Starbucks owns Seattle's Best Coffee.  For the consumer, how do they
differ?  i assume that Seattle's Best Coffee is considered a step down
from Starbucks in prestige.  Is there a difference in the quality or
kinds of coffee available? Food?  Ambience?  I now find a Seattle's
Best Coffee shop in the local supermarket (other stores in the same
chain often have a Starbucks).  The two major bookstores in the
area--Barnes & Noble and Borders--have Starbucks and Seattle's Best
respectively.  We often call coffee a commodity.  I assume that brands
attempt to prevent commodification.

-- 
David M. Fahey
Professor Emeritus of History
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056
USA