All Hail Starbucks

The Courier newsroom has been abuzz this week, and not just because the village of North Baltimore released all that juicy information on its police department and former chief.

Nothing quite perks up the ears of coffee lovers and Americans in general like the mention of Starbucks. Those of you addicted to caffeine in such a fashion begin to get that far away look in your eye. Some of you salivate. Others, however, begin the inevitable rant against corporate America taking over and pushing out the Mom and Pops who are just trying to make a couple bucks. And so let us begin the great debate about whether Findlay really needs or wants such an establishment. Not that it matters because it's probably coming here anyway; city council's planning committee this morning approved a request by the conglomerate to move on into the old Godfather's Pizza location in front of Market Square on Tiffin Avenue. Move over Tim Horton's - your reign, which has lasted all of about two months, will be ending shortly, it seems.

Google the phrase "battling Starbucks" and a whopping 184,000 sites will pop up about locals fighting a Starbucks store opening in their neighborhood and other corporations like McDonald's trying to compete with it. For years the company has been quite the powerhouse, catering to the latte addicted set. Even those who've never taken a business class know a little about the company's history - the first Starbucks opened in Seattle's Pike Place Market in 1971, in the '80s it popularized what Italy already knew about making coffee taste better, and in the 1990s it began to expand and spread itself across the country faster than online news about Britney. So it's a decade later that Findlay is finally catching up to all of this.

I'm not a coffee drinker and I've admitted that many a time before, but if offered a creamy, sweet, whipped creamed coffee drink with ingredients like chocolate in it, nobody has to twist my arm to drink it. And in a previous post here, I noted my relatively newfound love for Tazo tea, which Starbucks owns and sells. Still, I've never found myself patronizing the place. Sure, I've walked past it in Barnes & Noble bookstores and such, eyeballing its baked goods and inhaling its delicious scents as I browse the two-for-one tables and biographies, but evidently I've never been hungry or thirsty enough at the time to cave.

If and when Starbucks comes here, however, I'm sure I'll undoubtedly find myself in there at some point. I mentioned to co-workers that it will probably take me half an hour just to decipher the drink menu to determine what I want, but I found a fabulous website that offers a primer for the ignorant like me. You can find it www.quicksilverweb.net/sbucks/sbcharts.htm.

Of course, the argument could be made that Starbucks will harm our local businesses, but with it planning on being on Tiffin Avenue I seriously doubt it will. I'm betting that Coffee Amici will still be just as crowded during Saturday evening jam fests, and that George House will still have plenty of folks sitting at outside at tables on warm spring days. No doubt the usual swarm will descend on Starbucks the second it opens, just like any other dining establishment here in Findlay, but that's par for the course. Tim Horton's, on the other hand, with its less-than-stellar location on Tiffin, should be worried, methinks.

What's your take on it? Would you like to see Starbucks locate here or do you think it should seek life elsewhere?

Comments

[Josh Woodward]

Ugh. Ignoring their business practices, their coffee is simply terrible. They use crappy beans, then burn them to mask the quality (every coffee tastes the same when it turns into charcoal), and market their bitter sludge as "gourmet". Granted, they've paved the way for places like Coffee Amici and George House to exist, but it saddens me to know that they're going to succeed even though there are others doing it so much better.

[Mariah]

I agree- I can't stand Starbucks coffee - I'm much more of a George House fan. Unfortunately, I think that most people just drink the coffee and assume that bad taste is the height of cool, because, hey, it's Starbucks.
Oddly, the company has hit a patch of trouble lately and been doing some restructuring, slowing growth:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hWs248u6x8dD29KXJAwbnGzy6e7wD8U1OLEO2

Odd that *now* Findlay gets one.
Regardless, I'll stick with George House.

[anon e. mouse]

My problem with those "upscale" coffeehouses is that the coffee is never served hot. You're lucky if it's a touch more than tepid and then you have to chug it down before it gets flat-out cold.

[Kristen]

Coffee Amici is still my all-time favorite Findlay coffee shop and I will continue to patronize them long after Starbucks makes it way to this city. I would have rather seen an Arabica Coffee House come to Findlay than a Starbucks. In Ohio, Arabica is mainly found in the Cleveland area (www.arabicacoffeeinc.com) and is much better than Starbucks ever has been.

[paulag]

I'm not a coffee drinker, never have been. I think it smells wonderful but I've never liked the taste of it. I have recently been "testing the waters" at Tim Hortons, beings they are on my way to work each morning near 6:30 am when not much else is open that a person in a hurry can "drive thru". I must say, I haven't been all that impressed. Probably my biggest gripe is that they put your donut in a little flat bag. Naturally by the time you get to work with it, or even pull away from the window, all the frosting on your donut is now on the top of the little flat bag. ARGH!!! Sorry, got sidetracked there. As for Starbucks...I guess I don't care much about them since I don't drink coffee but I do hate to see any harm come to the locally owned coffee shops. I have often driven past these places and thought they seemed like really cool happening places. Especially when the "live music" is happening inside. Good luck to the locals!

[Elizabeth]

Throughout the fancy coffee drinker's world (especially in NYC) it is well known that Starbucks coffee is no good and over-priced. Hence...all the new competition. A Starbucks here in Findlay will be a novelty at first, but I think the most loyal and frequent coffee drinkers will remain loyal to their current establishments (George House, Coffee Amici, Moreys). The key to more expensive coffee is location, taste and speed. As long as out local favorites keep up the quality and keep the prices competitive, they will be fine.

[Danielle]

I don't seek out Starbucks, but I have to say when we're driving to my in-laws' house in Philly, I'm glad they're in the turnpike plazas. Not for quality reasons, just for caffeine reasons. If you get enough sugar, caramel and whipped cream in the coffee, it's not so bad.

There's a Starbucks at BGSU now, but I'd rather go to Cosmo's if I'm up there.

[Cherie]

Why did it never come? I love Starbucks! I think Biggby is overpriced, Tim Horton's doesn't do their own brewing or mixing, and Coffee Amici makes me gag - their coffee is so bitter and acidic, plus there is no place to park and no drive thru. I was so looking forward to Starbucks and it never came! Very disappointed here.