Tired of supporting corporate coffee houses? If you are addicted to the bean, sometimes you can’t avoid it because Starbucks has taken over the area where you live or work. My neighborhood has no shortage of excellent locally owned coffee shops, but the place where I work is what you might call “Corporate America Central.” It has six Starbucks stores within walking distance and one other corporate shop where the coffee is less than desirable. I don’t know of any privately owned coffee shops within walking distance.
On Monday I received the most recent Hightower Lowdown and it included a report about Delocator. It’s a website that provides you with a list of locally owned coffee shops within five miles of your zip code, and also provides a complete list of Starbucks stores “so that you can avoid them.” Hoping that I just wasn’t aware of places to go near where I work, I typed in my employer’s zip code and got a list of five shops. They were all too far away to walk for a coffee break.
I must now admit that I frequent Starbucks quite often because I think they have a good selection of quality coffee beans. However, their computer programmed latte-making machines produce some pretty bland espresso drinks, so I rarely buy them.
Anyway… It’s always best to support the folks who own and operate businesses in your neighborhood, so if you need help finding a coffee shop, try out this website.
I walk every morning to a local coffee vendor. Starbucks = McDonalds of Coffee.