Independent Coffee Houses Having to Compete with Free Starbucks

In this time of struggling economy, even those things that we've come to take for granted have started to dwindle. In particular, stores that we thought would not only last forever but also put every other business of their sort out of business have begun to suffer at the hands of "stagflation." Starbucks, once joked about for their ability to take over the universe and make it its namesake, is having a rough time making ends meet.

According to Courier Journal, Starbucks will hand out free coffee for 30 minutes starting at noon on Tuesday. The blend will be their new Pike Place Roast, named after the first Starbucks store.

If Starbucks is suffering, every other coffee place must surely be in dire trouble. In my area, though, this does not seem to be the case. Perhaps coffee drinkers abound here, but I feel that the larger reason has more to do with the ability of independent companies to not just survive, but to thrive in Chapel Hill, NC. Where I actually live, in a once-little suburb of Raleigh, NC, independent coffee houses are having more difficulty. Driving around town, Caribou Coffee and Starbucks are pretty much the only names you see that scream coffee. But even these two giants are having difficulty competing with the fast and cheap, but still good coffee from Dunkin' Donuts and McCafe.

To compete, both Starbucks and Caribou have tried drive-thrus, but Dunkin' Donuts and McCafe offer fast coffee through their drive-thrus, and something that Starbucks really has yet to embrace: food. Although some quick grab pastries may help Starbucks, there's nothing like a full course meal, chock full of carbs, sugars and fats, to bring the people to the door.

In Chapel Hill, large chains like Starbucks and even Caribou Coffee are the exception and not the rule. Unlike Cary, these places are largely frequented by students who need a large amount of space to spread out their groups, or who like the WiFi networks and the ability to do school work while sipping their brew. But most townies and even most students are drawn towards the independently owned coffee shops. And who can blame them? There are a huge number of independent coffee shops in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

These coffee shops, to steal a phrase from Cheers, the places "where everybody knows your name." Often small and quaint, they offer a plethora of food options for snacking. Many people in Chapel Hill are very socially and culturally aware, and worry about the damages done by big chains like Starbucks. Even as Starbucks contends that they help the independent farmers who provide the beans that make Starbucks richer by the minute, and even as the patrons to Starbucks revel in the increased space and chairs that don't wobble, many contentious coffee drinkers feel that the little guy just may be giving more back to the farmers. Whether or not this is true is truly a debate beyond the realm of this article, but it certainly keeps the small chains alive and well.