Serious Eats
Starbucks: From 'Destination Stop' to 'Default Option'
Tom Mullaney of the Chicago Tribune waxes nostalgic over the old days of Starbucks—you know, before they started hawking CDs, breakfast sandwiches, and weren't everywhere—and laments their evolution from corner coffee shop to caffeine empire:
For the first dozen years, Starbucks was a destination stop. It had enormous cachet and street cred. . . . Starbucks is now my default option. . . . [It] once defined the coffee market but has lost control of its brand. Its ubiquity has killed the joy of discovering a new hangout.
[via Gapers Block]