Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/25/D8L00DT02.html

"Going to the other side of the street can be a barrier," said Launi
Skinner, senior vice president in charge of Starbucks' store
development.

In my little area of NE Connecticut, there are nine Duncan Donuts
within the corporate limits of Putnam, population 9, 100. Nine of
them. Everything from a big kitchen/training store to small bistro
type stores that have no kitchens, but are supplied by the kitchen
store. There are two Starbucks and one private entity coffee shop.

There used to be three little coffee/donut shops in Putnam that were
run as mom/pop operations - no longer.

Now I ask you - why does the town of Putnam need one big corporate
supported coffee, muffin/pastry/donut shop per 766 people?

Seriously.
--

"What the hell's the deal with this newsgroup...
is there a computer terminal in the day room of
some looney bin somewhere?"

Bilgeman - circa 2004


When we traveled to the Boston area last month, we were astonished by
the number of Dunkin' Donut outlets. There might be 4-5 Dunkin' Donuts
in all of Seattle, but there was one every couple of hundred yards in
Boston. Can't understand the hole fascination with donuts, myself.

Normal people live in communities that have 2-3 Starbucks coffee shops
per square block, of course. :-)

"Chuck Gould" wrote in message

.....we were astonished by
the number of Dunkin' Donut outlets. There might be 4-5 Dunkin' Donuts
in all of Seattle, but there was one every couple of hundred yards in
Boston.

They both just cater to their respective markets. DD sells good coffee and
donut/muffin/bagel.......period. Starbucks sells good coffee and
pretentious image. bg

John Gaquin wrote:
"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
.....we were astonished by
the number of Dunkin' Donut outlets. There might be 4-5 Dunkin' Donuts
in all of Seattle, but there was one every couple of hundred yards in
Boston.

They both just cater to their respective markets. DD sells good coffee and
donut/muffin/bagel.......period. Starbucks sells good coffee and
pretentious image. bg

Starbucks sells lousy coffee.

Bert Robbins wrote:

Starbucks sells lousy coffee.

Shhhhh! Really; next thing you know, Bert, you'll be announcing that
the Emperor has no clothes!

The sad truth about Starbucks is that it is now too big to serve
quality coffee. Starbucks needs to buy beans in mega-ton increments to
keep a standardized group of coffees available in its gazillion
locations- and even though they charge enough to serve a premium roast
the world's best coffees are not available in sufficient quantities.
The service at the 2-3 Starbucks where I regularly go for coffee is
very good, with some of the brighter baristas making an effort to learn
the names of their regular customers. When I'm four back from the
counter in line and some smiling young woman asks, "What can I start
for you today, Mr. Gould?" that's an experience not readily duplicated
in the average donut shop. (Seems to loosen the grip on a tip, as
well).

Now, for the world's very best coffee. (Yes, I'm out on a limb here but
in my experience as a coffee drinker this is a pretty sturdy limb).
Take your boat to Thetis Island up in British Columbia, and hunt down
Gene and Nan Beals' cozy home. Out back of their house, in a
specially constructed building, is a 1930-something coffee roasting
machine named "Gertrude". When the Beals relocated to Thetis Island
from San Francisco, years ago, they brought Gertrude along and set up
shop as Pot Of Gold Coffee Company.

The Beals don't need to buy enormous quantities of coffee, so they can
pay top dollar for small quantities of premium beans. They have been at
it long enough that they know the difference between beans grown on one
plantation vs a neighbor's; and even whether the beans grown at the top
of the hill on Pablo Yvera's coffee farm are different than the beans
grown at the bottom. The big producers don't buy the premium beans, and
usually mix in a lot of inferior beans just to create a "blend" in
sufficient quantity.

I drink Starbucks because I'm out in the community for several hours
every day, and I like coffee. If I had the time to brew it and the
luxury of doing all my coffee drinking at home, I'd be a Pot of Gold
purist. It's so good, that it will spoil you for anything else. I've
had after-dinner coffee in some famous restaurants that can't hold a
candle to Pot of Gold. :-)

http://www.potofgoldcoffee.com/

"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
oups.com...

Bert Robbins wrote:

Starbucks sells lousy coffee.

Shhhhh! Really; next thing you know, Bert, you'll be announcing that
the Emperor has no clothes!

The sad truth about Starbucks is that it is now too big to serve
quality coffee.

Someone at the company's got a sense of humor, though. A few years back,
NPR's April Fool news story involved a huge pipeline Starbucks was building
from coast to coast, to deliver a slurry of coffee beans and water to each
store, where they'd be roasted. They interviewed Starbucks people. They
interviewed the governor of Montana (really) who explained how the state was
going to help rush the legal matters, like easements through farmland where
owners needed to understand that a broken pipeline would be harmless. They
interviewed some guy from a pipeline maintenance company (a real one), who
explained the technology that would be used to detect pipeline breaks.

The story sounded pretty good until they said that Starbucks' next goal was
to deliver fresh roasted beans to individual homes, using an arrangement
like the vacuum tubes used to send messages. Then, it got silly.

"Chuck Gould" wrote in message

.....with some of the brighter baristas ....

Baristas? Ref my earlier comment re pretentious image.


When I'm four back from the
counter in line and some smiling young woman asks, "What can I start
for you today, Mr. Gould?" that's an experience not readily duplicated
in the average donut shop.

Readily duplicated every morning at my local Dunks. Except they don't have
to "start" anything, they just have to pour the coffee.