The death of the coffee shops

[Bagpuss]

Starbucks already in trouble last year, credit crunch cutbacks. How long for Starbucks, Costa, Cafe Nero et al?

[DiscoStu]

Mate of mine is a head office type bod for one of the major coffee chains. Believe it or not, their major worry at the moment is people trading down to McDonalds, who have apparently started serving very good proper coffee recently.

[Spacecadet]

Mate of mine is a head office type bod for one of the major coffee chains. Believe it or not, their major worry at the moment is people trading down to McDonalds, who have apparently started serving very good proper coffee recently.

can't be any worse than starbucks... and to be honest when i'm driving and can't be arsed getting out of the car then a macdonalds drvie through coffee does hit the spot.

Nero had been a favourite of mine when they allowed smoking in the establishment, made it worthwhile. since the smoking ban, there's no reason to choose them over any of the other high street coffee merchants.

Still, when "on the continent" i do notice a distinct lack of starbucks et al

[beaker]

can't be any worse than starbucks... and to be honest when i'm driving and can't be arsed getting out of the car then a macdonalds drvie through coffee does hit the spot.

Nero had been a favourite of mine when they allowed smoking in the establishment, made it worthwhile. since the smoking ban, there's no reason to choose them over any of the other high street coffee merchants.

Still, when "on the continent" i do notice a distinct lack of starbucks et al

That's because they appreciate proper coffee and don't drink that Starbucks rubbish...

[TykeMerc]

That's because they appreciate proper coffee and don't drink that Starbucks rubbish...

True, there's no market niche in much of mainland Europe for the likes of Starbucks since almost every bar, cafe and tobacconist sells good coffee.

[NickFitz]

Rusland seems to be coping. Or is that not the kind of "coffee shop" you meant?

[Stan.goodvibes]

Perhaps people have finally realised they've been duped into paying over the odds for what is just a coffee.

Nothing quite so relaxing as sitting on the footpath of a busy road with ppl walking past you all the time, buses spewing out diesel fumes all over you, and you yelling to be overheard over the din of traffic...

yup, really great way to start the day. Not.

[d000hg]

I never really got Starbucks, although I've only been into one or two. They seem OK apart from being really pricey - £4 for a slice of cake up north is crazy!
Luckily they haven't taken over Durham yet, which, due to the huge number of students, has a large number of decent coffee shops. If only the studets didn't keep making them so busy...

Oh yes, and in my book MCDonalds coffee is really not bad at all considering the price - and you don't have high expectations either which helps too

[The Lone Gunman]

MC Donalds are trying to rebrand a bit (as are Pasta Hut) with their Mc Cafes. The ones I have been too are excellent.

I never liked Starbucks, but do use my local Cafe Nero when at home. A mate of mine uses their wifi a lot and calls it his office.

[NotAllThere]

Mate of mine is a head office type bod for one of the major coffee chains. Believe it or not, their major worry at the moment is people trading down to McDonalds, who have apparently started serving very good proper coffee recently.

But they've been refused loans to buy more. http://www.20min.ch/finance/news/sto...hinen-19753909

( I'm sure there's an English version of the story somewhere ).

I used to get up at 4:15, shower, get in the car at 4:30, then drive three hours to Folkestone. That Burger King coffee I drank while on the shuttle, always tasted great.