While I live in the land of all things Starbucks, it never occurred to me there might actually be a very “first” Starbucks–and that one could actually “go there.”
I guess it is logical there had to be a first and that one could go to it, but not being a fan of burned coffee, I have never spent as much time thinking about going to the first Starbucks as it will take me to write this post.
What struck me about going to the first Starbucks (besides finding out that it is not at the actual “exact” location of the original one–but very close–at least in the same Pike Place Market), was noticing the degree to which Starbucks sold out as it went after, and adapted to, a wider audience.
What started out as a very cool and different coffee shop, with a different taste and with perhaps one of the coolest logos of all time, had to “cover up” their vampish mermaid logo so as to not offend the tastes of a wider audience—a sometimes prudish and conservative audience. The logo became “safe” and much less interesting.
But this is the way of businesses that feel compelled to figure out ways to clone themselves in the pursuit of profits. It is one of the fringe benefits of globalization.
Something is lost when success leads to mediocrity.
Charles Buell