TAKE More of the same is exactly what we want
By Michael J. Tittinger (Mike Tittinger is a freelance writer who lives in Santa Monica.)
Comedian Lewis Black was sure the Apocalypse was near, he said during a recent routine, when he saw a Starbucks smack across the street from … yes, another Starbucks. There must be a lot of Alzheimer’s patients in town, he reasoned, where people leaving one Starbucks get excited to see another one across the street.
The Onion, a popular satirical newspaper, reported last year that the coffee shop chain had “suddenly and unexpectedly closed its (then) 2,870 worldwide locations to prepare for what company insiders are calling ‘Phase Two’ of the company’s long-range plan.” The article suggests the company is secretly carrying out a plan for world domination, trading in their “JavaJackets” for “Starbucks-insignia armbands.”
Earlier this week, the Daily Press reported that yet another Starbucks will be setting up shop on the Third Street Promenade. Reporter Andy Fixmer seemed to be incensed with the latest global domination news (“Starbucks conquers the last block on the Promenade,” Jan. 25). Reporting the new location will mark the 12th Starbucks in Santa Monica, Fixmer writes “and if that’s not enough saturation, the gourmet coffee retailer will have locations on all three blocks of the Promenade.”
Slamming the Starbucks franchise is nothing new; their world domination had been forecasted for some time now. They make for an easy target, what with their snooty French coffee names, world music soundtracks and poser clientele pretending to read obtuse classics while keeping one eye on their cell phones.
But where exactly does all the vitriolic hatred come from, as backlash against the coffee shop chain seems to swell with every grand opening? Yet, if one were to draw a composite sketch of the typical Santa Monica resident, I guarantee they would be holding a familiar white coffee cup emblazoned with a green mermaid insignia and nestled in a JavaJacket.
I think we all need to take a sip from our Latte Grandes and catch our breath. The continuing expansion of Starbucks is not a sign the Apocalypse is near, nor does it signify the end of Western civilization, as we know it. The fact is, coffee shops are thriving in America like never before and the current obsession in this country with all things caffeine is not entirely Starbucks’ making.
Caffeine has become the social drug of choice for a nation that’s growing increasingly uncomfortable with its past cultural acceptance of recreational drug use, cigarettes and alcohol. What started with teens drinking Jolt Cola in the ‘70s, and continued with them downing Mountain Dew in the ‘80s, has given birth to a caffeinated nation — congregating around our coffee cups and slurping cans of Red Bull.
Aside from the throngs of early-morning traffic in their parking lots, do Starbucks franchises really wreak havoc in their respective neighborhoods? More locations would seem to help alleviate the congestion concerns if anything. Would residents prefer more bars and clubs with rowdy patrons howling into the night and urinating in back alleys?
In the typical coffee shop, we have a gathering place that promotes interaction among area residents without the distractions of a blasting jukebox, a sports game on television and video games beeping to be fed more quarters. The coffee shop is a place where one can think, either in solitude or out loud; can express his or her opinions on the day’s events over drinks no more harmful than an iced tea.
Here is a place where Santa Monicans can sit and converse and actually hear themselves think, a place where residents can talk about the crises in Iraq and North Korea and not have to pause when Shaquille O’Neal dunks a basketball. Here is a place where our neighbors can read and work and be out among each other; a place where one can sit outside and enjoy the Santa Ana winds or the surrounding mountains and think poetically.
The fact that Starbucks just keeps opening up more locations simply tells us that we want more locations, whether we want to admit to it or not. Business is all about supply and demand, and we are apparently demanding more of the same. We can keep right on bashing them while we decide between a Café Mocha and a Caramel Fruppucino.
Where the deep-seeded resentment towards the coffee shop chain comes from is hard to say. Do we blame the proliferation of cookie-cutter franchises in general for sounding the death knell of typical mom and pop businesses? Is it Starbucks’ fault that their devoted clientele affords them the luxury of running several shops along the Promenade when the specialty bookstore Midnight Special can’t make rent and has to relocate?
Do we blame franchises like Starbucks and McDonald’s for killing the soul of our city, putting more idiosyncratic coffee shops and burger joints on life support? Or is there a sense of self-loathing among us for frequenting these establishments when we know the effects their success will have on these businesses we claim to hold so dear?
In a sense, we are being hypocritical by professing more Starbucks is not what we want for our city when it’s exactly what we want each and every morning in our little white cups with sleeves.
Regardless, the coffee shop chain is a part of our city’s modern culture, and we all made it happen.
“Whether it’s economical or if it’s feasible, that’s up to Starbucks,” says Councilman Herb Katz. “I’m amazed at how many coffee houses there are in L.A. and Santa Monica to begin with, but it works.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 30, 2003. Read the original PDF.