--- "Steven L. Robinson" <srobin21 at comcast.net> wrote:
> Isn't there a thing called market saturation? Where
> I work - in downtown San Francisco - we literally
> have Starbucks around the corner from each other on
> the same block. In places in the Suburban Bay Area
> you frequently have two in the same strip mall -
> one in Safeway or Wells Fargo - and one in a free
> standing store. I love my expresso as much as
> anyoone, but isn't there a limit to how much coffee
> we can drink? SR
[WS:] I think that they also face increased competition from cheaper outlets, like McDonalds. I recall reading somewhere (Consumer Reports?) that McD's coffee rates quite high in taste, but costs far less than Starbucks's variety. Not to mention the fact that Starbucks "cheapened" its brand by opening a joint in every imaginable 'low-end' hole in the wall, including service stations along the NJ Turnpike - which are notorious for crappy food.
I think that at the end they got confused whether they want to be another fast-food joint like McD, or an upscale preppy coffee shop - and lost on both ends.
Wojtek
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