Why Starbucks Can't Compete Against Local Biz

This article in the London Free Press presents an interesting examination of the closing of 600 Starbucks coffee shops. She comes very close to pinpointing the strength of local biz versus the canned chain experience:

"In a world in which the focus of those same customers is increasingly on authenticity as a commodity and on local rather than global, it might be hard for Starbucks to reinvent itself in the image of the very neighbourhood stores it replaced."

We've long recognized and appreciated that one of the strengths of local businesses and one of their primary contributions to their communities lies in the ability to reinvent themselves and their offerings, and respond quickly to community needs and interest as they arise. If a local coffee shop owner realizes that its customers want a few more menu items and more comfortable seating, its ability to provide those things quickly far exceeds the ability of a chain with a thousand stores. And more importantly, what Starbucks has done is provide a consistent (and somewhat stale) environment at the expense of living and vital relationships. And since we are human beings who thrive on relationship, there's only so much of that empty experience we can handle. The local coffee shop is more able to build connection and relationship (beyond a company policy to ask for people's names to write on a cup), and fulfill a need more fundamental than being hip or cool...the need for ongoing, vital connections.