The invasion of the café snatchers
As a fan of Munich tradition, I am disappointed by the prospect of Starbucks—the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world, with more than 4,600 retail locations in North America, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim—opening a cluster of retail outlets in Munich. The crushing momentum of Starbucks’ aggressive expansion has become legendary and the butt of mainstream international humor, but let’s make no green beans about it: their method of expansion is not funny.Starbucks’ policy is to open stores in areas that are already saturated with coffee shops. One can only conclude that the coffee giant’s goal is to dilute, demand and steal the customer base of traditional shops. You don’t need a crystal ball or a doctorate in economics to predict what is going to happen in Munich. Starbucks, in cooperation with her co-brander, will create a lot of hype, open a store, generate some sales, open a second store in the same area in the hope of lowering the sales of the first, as well as the income of every other coffee shop in the area, open a third and so on until local shops that generate less capital are forced to lay off staff and eventually move out.
There will always be a place for Starbucks. Ditto McDonald’s and AOL. On occasion we all have a need for the tried and true. Starbucks coffee tastes the same today as it did yesterday, tastes the same in Minneapolis as it will in Munich. The geographically dispersed stores are carbon copies, decorated with the same trappings, lighting and uniforms. They even “sound” the same—only music selected by corporate HQ is piped through the cafés’ loudspeakers. Styrofoam-mug-toting tourists, students and expat yuppies are already hooked and Munich is not the place where they want to kick the habit.
It’s fine with me if they open a Starbucks Coffee Shop in Munich. What I object to is the clustering, the predatory strategy to kill off the competition. Multinational chains are not new to the city. We have more than our share. GAP, McDonalds, Esprit, Benetton, Vodaphone, Body Shop, to name but a few, are all within view of the location where Starbucks will probably first display their nipple-less mermaid icon and open their first low-level amphetamine watering hole. If the current trend continues, multinational shops will outnumber independent businesses in Munich’s Altstadt within the next few years and residents and tourists alike will have lost something that cannot be bought, packaged or franchised: local character. And I am not alone in my objections. There is no denying a growing tension between a global-market economy and people’s desire to retain self-control, a lively local economy and some local culture.
The idolization of the huge and the admiration of all those empty suits whose sights are set on being the world’s #1 by expanding at any cost send our children the wrong message and, I am pleased to say, seem to be out of alignment with current trends. The turn-of-the-millennium economic lust for world dominance is beginning to look misplaced (just ask World Com, Enron, Border Crossing, Arthur Anderson, Deutsche Telekom or AOL Time Warner shareholders).
Commercial imperialism is economically wrong headed. Not just wrong, but absurd, stupid, silly. Five years from now, there will be millions of managers, analysts, politicians, diplomats and journalists scrambling around looking for cover so they won’t be seen as being part of the joke. What they have done will have to be undone. And we’re ready for it. Some have been screwed over by the market and are looking to taste blood; others are just feeling guilty over what they have allowed to happen to our community. In any case, the time is ripe to discuss a softer, gentler form of corporate capitalism. The best place to do this would be over a good cup of coffee.
