As the town’s population gets larger, so does the support from its residents towards local businesses. Many people believe that supporting these shops is more important than helping large corporations that plant their stores throughout the United States and other countries.
According to Finance&Commerce, U.S. consumers are willing to spend an extra $150 per month just to keep their favorite business from closing. With the update being done to the Square, the city hopes to brighten up the streets with more local shops and a fun atmosphere. Some coffee shops said customers told them they’d rather support their stores than spend $8 at Starbucks for the same product. However, there are still many who would rather have the name-brand stuff.
In recent months, Starbucks has been getting boycotted by consumers because of prices and quality, as well as the controversy in regard to their political views. This hit has affected the business as they have resorted to hiring the previous CEO of Chipotle, Brian Niccol. His job is to improve the business overall and make consumers flock to the shop doors like they used to. Niccol was doing the same at Chipotle, trying to make the restaurant a more “grab and go” type of place by providing more technology. According to Starbucks Stories, Niccol said, “I am excited to join Starbucks and grateful for the opportunity to help steward this incredible company, alongside hundreds of thousands of devoted partners.” However, transportation has been a challenge for Niccol as the Starbucks headquarters is located in Seattle, and he is positioned in Newport Beach, California. Some rumors have gone around about the headquarters moving to California, but it was unlikely since their home base has been there since they opened, and Niccol moving to Seattle. The new CEO and Starbucks landed on a $250,000 annual solution though, which requires Niccol to fly via private jet to Seattle when he is needed.
While the whole point of this new management is to help the business gain more popularity than it has and get its business rates back up, many people still believe that it’s “outrageous” to spend $8-10 on a single drink, especially when Niccol’s new plan has Venti cups only being filled halfway, and the rest is filled with cold foam or ice. If they are spending all of their money just to get the guy to fly to them, they could at least be spending some money to fill the drinks all the way and not charge crazy numbers for little amounts.
With most of the world drinking coffee almost daily, it comes down to affordability and quality. With it being an important part of most people’s day, many don’t want to just have the basic coffee drive-thru experience where the cashier is cranky most of the time, the lines are always long, and the coffee is hit or miss. Smaller, local coffee shops have a more fun and homey atmosphere that is warm and inviting to people, whereas chains are just standardized and impersonal. Most local coffee shops make their own style of coffee beans, which results in new and different flavors, as well as a higher quality that isn’t mass-produced. However, quality products come with higher prices at the smaller shops. It still can cost a pretty penny for these delicious coffees, but many are still willing to spend more just to support their local businesses rather than Starbucks.
Most of the people who work in these smaller local businesses also care a little more about how their community sees them and the business, and most of the time will learn names, faces, and sometimes even orders to create a bond with a customer.
If coffee is a part of the daily routine, maybe try stopping at a local coffee shop instead, and who knows, maybe it’ll be better than spending all of that money for a bunch of nothing.
