For the better part of my life, I’ve been an avid coffee drinker and, lately, an addict. You might think, since I have become so coffee dependant, that I pay regular homage to the Starbucks altar. On the contrary, I have to admit, I hate Starbucks. I do not like the burned after-taste of their java, or that for it to be flavored they must pump some sort of syrup into your cup. I detest being made to pay so much for a cup of simple coffee when, a few blocks down the road, Wawa offers three times as much for the same price and better taste. Most people, my roommates included, say “let’s go for coffee” and then end up with some sort of frappuccino mess that barely resembles coffee at all. What I hate most about Starbucks, though, is what it does to the local economies and mom-and-pop java dens. Starbucks is not so popular with our youth for its coffee so much as it is for its posh, hipster aesthetic. Elitist music creeps through skillfully hidden speakers, and the artists’ albums are for sale nearby, along with alternative subject novels, both contracted with Starbucks with the intent to get the customer to spend even more money on its corporate machine.
I have noticed the invasion over the past few years; I live in a town where there had been none, then one, and now there are at least four, all placed a strategic five minutes apart. With this came something else, something far more sinister. Local family shops specializing in sweet treats, like homemade water ice and ice cream, all started going under shortly after they became neighbors with a Starbucks. Then it happened, the fateful day when, located across the street from the newest addition to the Starbucks empire, our family-run Dairy Queen went out of business. Gone are the worn red booths and shingled hut, aged arcade games and well-graffitied bathroom wall. But, more importantly, absent in our neighborhood is a location offering dollar fifty ice cream. Why go for that when you can have a four-dollar frappucino?
I fear for what will happen to West Chester, with the new inclusions of a Starbucks in the University library, and at the corner of Gay and High Streets. If you look into the local competition at prime drinking time, in the early morning hours, Starbucks is smattered with a good deal of patrons. Fernario’s and Sprazzo’s, on the other hand, have one or two quiet customers, reading mutely in a dark corner. Losing these businesses would rob us of one of the greatest open-mic nights in the county, and some of the freshest gellato known to taste.
My point is, simply, that businesses run by real people and real families cannot keep up with the commercial monster that is the coffee king. Many argue that this is because you can go to any Starbucks, in any city, and get the same beverage no matter the location, whereas frequenting different shops would result in different consumption. When, I ask, did America lose its skill for trying new things?
Frequent Starbucks, if you will, for your fake-coffee and corporate sponsorship. But next time you shell-out four bucks for that shaken, blended mess, consider what is at stake. Consider what you stand to lose.
Lisa DellaPorta is a second-year student majoring in English education and English studies. She can be reached at LD631585@wcupa.edu.