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Why people go to Starbucks.
Tim Harford, a Financial Times magazine columnist and a former World Bank official, thinks that people buy Starbucks coffee because they are commuters desperate for caffeine:
Rush-hour commuters are so desperate for caffeine, they're practically price-blind. And when every precious minute of the commute is at a premium, why waste any worrying about paying $4.50 for a grande cinnamon spice latte?
Now really, if every minute of the commute is at a premium, then why would they choose to get coffee at a place with no drive-through, where they have to get out of their vehicles and wait in a long line for a beverage that is comparatively slow to prepare? It would be much faster to go through the drive-through and Dunkin Donuts for a regular coffee.
He also thinks that the vast number of Starbucks locations is a sign that they are desperate:
They have same thing as everyone else. It's a sign of weakness. It depends on location; they don't trust you to go out of your way to buy their coffee. Starbucks has to pay for the location by renting or buying property. The people who are really profiting from the coffee are the property owners. The location is scarce. If you've got the best location, that can't be duplicated. That's where the money is.
Starbucks is focused on customer service. When a location becomes inundated, they open a new location. And people come to Starbucks in droves. Perhaps Starbucks proves that location isn't always important.
Via Starbucks Gossip.