Personal Dork Assistant

Java Jive

I guess Bay Area housing isn't the only thing that refuses to obey the laws of economics. Apparently coffeehouses can increase without bound, too. What doesn't make sense is that crowding is actually good for business, the same idea that creates clusters of fast-food restaurants and gas stations, even though I always wonder how a McDonalds can survive when In-n-Out is next door.

In fact, it does, sort of. After hearing the dynamics of the industry explained by a few experts, I understand that one way of looking at gourmet coffee is the way traffic planners see a crowded highway: If you build a fourth lane, it may ease the congestion briefly, but in the long term it will just attract more cars to the road. The trend in the specialty coffee industry remains more, more, more — and somehow it keeps on working.

"It doesn't make sense to us either sometimes," said Mike Ferguson, a spokesman for the Specialty Coffee Association of America.

Always good to see some honesty out of a PR Spokesman. It's not even the only article questioning whether Starbucks is really that bad. Do we have a backlash against the anti-Starbucks backlash? Or is it a carefully planned media conspiracy?

And while it's tempting to dismiss Starbucks-bashing by pointing out that all chains receive an icy reception from some, when was the last time you heard of a Bed, Bath & Beyond getting firebombed?

One local business owner who grudgingly gives Starbucks credit for helping spark a neighborhood renaissance is Leather Storrs of the restaurant Noble Rot, located on Southeast Ankeny Street near 28th Avenue. The area, now packed with successful, trendy local businesses, was home to a Starbucks long before any of them arrived.

The one crime where Starbucks was guilty as charged was its homogenization effect. The mass-produced middling-culture atmosphere is replicated to perfection everywhere it goes. Although I do have to admit that a soothingly pastel room filled with decent furniture, soft jazz, and lots of air-conditioning makes for a welcome change of pace in Taiwan. The Starbucks across the street also happens to be the only coffeeshop around that's opening on weekend mornings. The other coffee places (some of which are even decent) cater to the office workers so they don't open early on weekends. And during the week I don't have time to run out and wait around for a latte. Although as long as I'm in Taiwan I might as well as drink tea anyway. Stick to the local specialty.