As you read the following post borrowed from Slate.com, switch out Starbucks for Lenscrafters, Pearle and even WalMart and think of the eyecare market. Do saavy private practice owners really have anything to fear from the national retailers? Have you adapted? Is the competition good for independents? Who/What do you fear? Agree? Disagree? Please post your comments.
Al Cleinman
Don't Fear Starbucks. Why the franchise actually helps mom and pop coffeehouses.
Ever since Starbucks blanketed every functioning community in America with its cafes, the one effect of its expansion that has steamed people the most has been the widely assumed dying-off of mom and pop coffeehouses. Our cities once overflowed with charming independent coffee shops, the popular thinking goes, until the corporate steamroller known as Starbucks came through and crushed them all, perhaps tossing the victims a complimentary Alanis Morrisette CD to ease the psychic pain. In a world where Starbucks operates nearly 15,000 stores, with six new ones opening each day, isn't this a reasonable assumption? How could momma and poppa coffee hope to survive? But Hyman didn't misspeak
