Starbucks was successful not because of the crunchy atmosphere or the cache or the eco-conscious, earth-friendly, shade-grown, fair trade blah, blah, blah. It was successful because for many years, it was the only place in the country that served really good coffee. It freed millions of coffee drinkers from the tyranny of Maxwell House. And because of that, it was able to charge unheard-of amounts of money for a simple cup of java.
But then McDonalds caught on and started brewing their own excellent blend. And Dunkin' Donuts one-upped Mickey-D's with their own outstanding offerings. Both were blows to Starbucks' bottom line.
And then this morning...
This morning, I was jonesing for a cup of coffee. I stopped at the Sunoco A-Plus convenience store/gas station because I'd noticed they'd upgraded their coffee machines. I grabbed a 16-oz. cup, added a bit of real half-and-half and filled up with Sumatra.
It was excellent. And it was $1.25.
If the Sunoco A-Plus in Crafton Borough, Pennsylvania has caught on to the premium coffee trend, it's a fair bet that pretty much everywhere else in America has as well. There may be a million Starbucks in the U.S., but there are a lot more everywhere-elses. And if they're just as good as Starbucks, more convenient and less money, Starbucks opened its doors this morning on a totally different world.
It'll be interesting to watch how they react to it.
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