Starbucks Coffee Debate

Discussions center on the appeal, quality, pricing, atmosphere, and business model of Starbucks, often comparing it to independent coffee shops and questioning why people patronize it despite criticisms of taste and cost.

➡️ Stable 0.5x Startups & Business
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20
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#3446
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Keywords

US IMHO VERY TBH WiFi StarBucks McDonald WAY starbucks coffee shops cup cups caffeine cafe drinks business buying

Sample Comments

fluxquanta Feb 17, 2016 View on HN

People don't pay $3 for plain Starbucks coffee. They pay $3 for the atmosphere of the shop and the availability of a halfway decent public bathroom.

VOYD Nov 24, 2015 View on HN

Maybe Starbucks likes locations where people can afford their products.

gentooinstall Dec 11, 2017 View on HN

Not really if it's at Starbucks

aestra Sep 30, 2013 View on HN

My supermarket has a Starbucks inside, without seats or WiFi. It stays there because presumably people are buying $5 coffee from there.

cr125rider Sep 1, 2024 View on HN

Wait, why are we trying to limit the number of Starbucks?

htrp Sep 21, 2021 View on HN

I think it's more like not buying Starbucks when you own your own coffeeshop...

palehose Sep 27, 2010 View on HN

At Starbucks, it is more expensive to hire people to stand around making coffee all day than it is to purchase and roast the coffee beans. This is easily recognizable by anyone who knows how to make coffee themselves. The majority of the money you spend when buying a drink goes into that service aspect of the business. Somehow Starbucks has managed to stay in business despite the fact that what they charge is not the "real" cost of a cup of coffee.

LunaSea Feb 23, 2024 View on HN

It's Starbucks, there's no experience

ronald_dregan Dec 4, 2015 View on HN

yeah it helps out mom and pop shops cause starbucks coffee is fucking repulsive and customers should go literally anywhere else for a halfway decent cup

nroets Nov 24, 2018 View on HN

Starbucks is not locked up by money. On my recent trip to the US, I encountered quite a few (homeless) people in there who came to charge their phones and they got ice water for free.