The affection some listmembers lavish on a coffee chain (Tim
Horton's) surprises me.

I'm fairly sure most coffee-drinking Americans of my age (early 30s)
and general professional status regard Starbucks and other chain
coffeehouses as a last resort. It's often a welcome last resort,
sure. Just as many Americans shop at Wal-Mart because there's no
other place--Wal-Marts typically force a wide range of smaller
businesses to close--so do I drink my share of Starbucks. And drink
it pretty happily.

But still, when given a choice, my preference has always been for the
independent coffeehouses. They serve better coffee and do more for
the local community. The people behind Angel Falls Coffee Company
(http://www.angelfallscoffee.com/about_us.html) are what I would call
model citizens. Akron has numerous coffee chains but they always get
my business.

Is the contempt for Starbucks as widespread as I thought (before
reading the most recent posts to this list)?

In Seattle, for example, where I have a number of friends and
relatives who are of a similar age and doing similar things with
their lives, Starbucks is pretty much reviled. A friend of mine once
commented that Starbucks should be known not for their sales of
coffee but for their sales of milk and sugar, which are perhaps the
more significant ingredients in most of their popular beverages.

One thing I'd add--around here, eighty to ninety percent of the
restaurants belong to some kind of chain. It's hard to find
high-quality food and drink, unique menu items, or even decent value
from the bulk of our foodservice establishments.

Is Canada so overrun by chain restaurants? If not, perhaps that's why
a chain coffeeshop would be so loved.

Jon
--
Dr. Jon Miller, English Department, University of Akron, Tel.
1-330-972-5717, [log in to unmask]; http://www.uakron.edu/english/miller/