So, what does having a local coffee house mean for your neighborhood?

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Permalink Reply by Bruce R. Pillow on May 5, 2009 at 10:41am

Hey Patrick...I just moved back from Japan and there the Japanese use the coffee house has the focus of ameeting place where herein America we use restaurants

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Permalink Reply by Joni North on May 5, 2009 at 2:06pm

That is an interesting thought about the economic status. I really didn't think that when Starbucks arrived in our town.

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Permalink Reply by Shari Boultbee on May 8, 2009 at 12:43pm

It is one way to look at it. But Starbucks doesn't drive the local growth or ecomony as much as some would like you to think. A locally owned and operated coffee house is just that local. Not only does it create a living for the owners, who usually live right in your community, but I believe it creates a feeling of closeness and security you get with family. Plus the coffee is just better and much fresher. We will not go into a Starbucks but we will hunt down local coffee shops everywhere we go, just like we hunt for lighthouse to go and see.

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Sullivan on May 8, 2009 at 2:08pm

I think in the case of Irvington, the important point was not so much that Starbucks would create economy, but that its interest in locating in the neighborhood signaled that we'd reached a certain threshold of viability (Starbucks, after all, does its market research). While its presence has raised the visibility of the neighborhood, especially to commuters who now have the opportunity to check out other businesses as they pass through for their coffee, no one has yet measured how much positive effect there has been on other local business (no one, as far as I know, has done a study that would link traffic flow through other business to Starbucks). There's probably been an effect, and it probably wouldn't be difficult to determine, however. I know it didn't have a detrimental effect on Lazy Daze, though, and Jeff thinks it might even have boosted his traffic a bit.

The bigger picture is that Starbucks' economic faith in the location really is leverage for further business development, and I think it has factored in some already, as a part of the overall ambiance of the neighborhood (we have two coffeeshops- we can support a chain and an independent); I think it was probably one of the persuasive elements in revitalizing some of the apartment buildings here (again signaling economic strength of the neighborhood), and I suspect it's a selling point in filling them (walk to Starbucks!). It's also a selling point for realtors attempting to move housing in other parts of the neighborhood, again, as part of the overall feel of the place- though I don't know anybody who'd move to a neighborhood just for the Starbucks ;-)

In short, having one come in to a neighborhood in various stages of economic revitalization signals a trend in the right direction. In our case it was certainly viewed as a success and a move forward, and its presence replaced a run-down, vacant building that had become an eyesore on a key intersection in the neighborhood, and in the center of the business district, and of course, was an economic drain on the neighborhood in more ways than one.

Yeah, the family feeling (and most of our coffee money) is at Lazy Daze (especially since most of Starbucks' revenue is drive-thru), and when I do go to Starbucks I like to be annoying by ordering a "medium" or a "large." And LD was an established business and Irvington success story before Starbucks arrived, and continues to bring positive attention to Irvington (A-list and other "Best Of" showings), and Jeff gives back a lot to the neighborhood. And as chains go, Tully's, Peet's, Second Cup and Caribou are all far superior in quality, but they're not here, except for Caribou, which is barely here physically and competing with a Starbucks bookstore outlet in the same building. (Oddly, those others don't seem to generate as much, if any, animosity about chain coffee as Starbucks...) Still, in Irvington's case, it's hard to argue that Starbucks hasn't had a positive impact in a number of areas by which we'd evaluate the success of neighborhood development efforts.

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Permalink Reply by Shari Boultbee on May 8, 2009 at 9:41pm

Patrick, we are excited about what we hear is happening in the Irvington area. I have heard about it all the way over in Grant County through where I work. I wish we would see the same kind of growth in our downtown area in Marion. It is being torn down and make into parking lots.

Just an FYI. My husband and I have a small roastery in Marion, no coffee house as of yet. We believe that we are providing that family feeling with the personal service we give to our fresh roast coffee customers. We have past customers of both Peet's and Starbuck. They claim there is no going back now that they have tasted what fresh roast is supposed to taste like.

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Sullivan on May 8, 2009 at 11:46pm

Sorry to hear about Marion. Is there a strong preservation group up there? They might want to see what kind of input they can get from the State Historic Preservation Office. There is a lot going on here, but the residents are driven to see it happen, and we've had very good resources and inputs from organizations that support community development organizations (Local Initiatives Support Corporation, FOCUS, others). Still, it's a long process...

I saw the coffee blog item on French Roast- I'll check out it out again. I was in a Peet's last week and was surprisingly disappointed- coffee tasted like it had been cooking too long in the pot.

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Permalink Reply by Shari Boultbee on May 10, 2009 at 12:48pm

Patrick, Looking forward to hearing from you on the blog. The Fresh Coffee blog just got recognized by WordPress.com as a "Blog of the Day" Growning Blogs. Pretty exciting considering it has only been up a few weeks. Get involved in the conversation. We want to educate about coffee while having a good time.
We are doing a Coffee Tasting at a festival called Boomtown 1892 in Gas City. The proceed go to the restoration of a mansion that will house the chamber and several other organization. People will be dressed in period clothing, we will be setup in the salon serving coffee. The entertainment is also period. If anyone wants more information I would love to provide that.

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Permalink Reply by Duke Snyder on May 14, 2009 at 4:49pm

Swear I will soon belong to every SI group just to make comments lol.
Thoroughly enjoying the postings of you two on this and agree wholeheartedly with comments from each of you.
Noted Shari's coffee business from posts elsewhere a few weeks back and am aware you've made a couple SI get together's here in Indy.
I reside close to Irvington and business carries through there every weekday so am familiar with comment on it. Again in full support of your statements. First that the local coffeehouse, (Lazy Daze), or others draw those of us strongly in favor of supporting local enterpriser's but that the location of a Starbuck's indeed provides for some "chestthumping" and a sense of having "arrived" in a socioeconomic sense.
I shall look forward to seeing further comments from the both of you in here.

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Permalink Reply by Shari Boultbee on May 14, 2009 at 9:29pm

Everyone has had such good things to say about Lazy Daze. If we get over to the area, we will most definately visit. When we go on road trips we visit coffee shops now. One of our favorites is in the village of Saugatuck, MI. It is in an old house with cafe tables right out on the sidewalk under big shade trees. They have an inhouse roaster. Mostly organic coffees. The Baristas don't smile or talk much, but the baker is a delight. The coffee is great. If you have a favorite shop on the road someplace, share the location. A Coffee Shop tour would be a lot of fun. You wouldn't need much sleep with that much coffee. Indiana tour of coffee shops.

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