> Starbucks raised the standard for coffee in the U.S.
Not enough to do anything significant to the market though. Coffee consumption, in the US, is down nearly 50% since the 60s, with no end in sight anytime soon. From the way people talk (especially about "latte liberals" etc.), you'd have thought that coffee has taken over the US and that no one in the US drank coffee before they arrived. Not even close, pal. Tell it to Chock Full'o'Nuts which had far more stores in NYC at their peak than Starbucks does now.
Must also never forget that Starbucks was started by a couple of guys who worked at Peet's one summer, left for grad school in Seattle, and decided they didn't like the coffee up there. The first few years of their existence they had Peet's trucked up from Berkeley. They had a non-compete for a while longer after they started roasting their own, and as soon as it expired they opened a shop within a block of every Peet's store city-wide.
Mr Peet drank tea exclusively.
/jordan