I used to drive a few blocks out of my way to get coffee at a place called Travelin' Joe on 27th Street. Just trying to help the local folks - to no avail, as they folded this year.
Other than that, I'm no coffee snob. I go to whatever's close, though I do make an effort to go local (I drive through 5-Star Coffee every weekday - large Red-Eye, black).
Starbucks tries to appear "local' with company-mandated "personal touches" (the drive-thru window at the 27th street location features a collage of photos showing customers with pets in their cars). But, make no mistake, they are are a national chain. Witness the deal they made with the Journal Sentinel company: Starbucks will only carry the Journal Sentinel's uh, "hip" newsweekly, MKE.
Shepherd Express Editor and publisher Louis Fortis wrote:
Over the past few weeks, we have received more than 100 calls from readers asking why we quit delivering the Shepherd Express to many of the Starbucks coffee shops in the Milwaukee area.
In fact, we did not make the decision to stop delivering to Starbucks. Instead, we were thrown out of Starbucks because of a deal the Journal Sentinel cut with Starbucks' regional office, where the Journal Sentinel demanded that the Shepherd Express be excluded from Starbucks newspaper racks.
After the deal with Starbucks was completed, one of the Journal Sentinel's free weeklies ran an ad claiming that they would now be the exclusive free weekly in the 48 Starbucks locations throughout metro-Milwaukee. This is simply another bullying, anti-competitive tactic by the Journal Sentinel.
When the Shepherd contacted Starbucks, Kelly Mattran, Midwest regional manager for Starbucks Coffee Co., said:Based on limited space in our newspaper racks, Milwaukee-area Starbucks stores will continue to carry the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and MKE newspapers. Individual Starbucks stores will continue to have the option to carry Shepherd Express newspapers based on available space. The decision as to whether a particular Starbucks carries the Shepherd will be at the discretion of each individual store manager."
The Shepherd Express has been an independent voice in Milwaukee for the past 25 years. You, our readers, are our only leverage when it comes to dealing with large corporations that do not always agree with our political viewpoint. The Journal Sentinel is able to pay distributors a few pennies more on the sale of each paper if they can squeeze out the competition.
So, if you enjoy reading the Shepherd Express weekly and picking it up when you buy your coffee, please let your local Starbucks store manager know.
Despite what you might think about the Shepherd Express, what's the use of a coffee shop without a row of many free newspapers to scoop up and read? And they don't even have free wi-fi ala 5-Star Coffee, Dunn's, Alterra, etc.
Another reason to buy local - - and hope for a locally-owned coffee shop in Shoppes at Wyndham Village to offset the Starbucks that'll be inside the Target store.
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