Peet’s plans expansion
As the planning commission in the small Bay Area town of Benicia decided they didn’t need any more Starbucks or “other ‘formula’ businesses” in its we’re-going-to-keep-it-quaint downtown, Emeryville-based Peet’s was planning an expansion program. Saying Peet’s is “quite underdeveloped” as a chain, the company’s president said they were planning to open “the majority of their new stores” in Northern California. Hooray!
Meanwhile, people were still discussing the memo from Starbucks founder Howard Schultz — who, by the way, just joined Forbes’ list of billionaires — about how Starbucks had diluted what made it originally popular by making stores too much alike, automating the espresso production process, and other streamlining moves.
For your reading pleasure:
I Hate Starbucks
I Love Starbucks
I Love Peet’s
I Hate Peet’s
And previously here on sf.metblogs: David K’s entry, Peet’s loves coffee.
Clearly, a topic people feel strongly about.
I still drive down to Santa Clara to buy my beans at Barefoot Coffee Roasters. Yes. It’s totally worth the drive. Without question.
But if I’m at the Ferry Building or Hayes Valley… then I go to Blue Bottle. I love my friends at Ritual, but I haven’t had a decent drink there in ages. A victim of their own success, I suppose.
Peets? They have standardized and based their business on a high level of mediocre. You can really taste the roast in their beans, and that’s no compliment. Going there reminds me of what coffee was like in the 1980s. But it’s still better than what Starbucks has become. I avoid both.
I’m sure no one wants to read about the Benicia….. but what ban? Where was it a few weeks ago? Another Starbucks just opened here a week or two ago, just off of the “quaint downtown area”, giving Benicia a grand total of FOUR Starbucks, three within 1/2 mile of each other. Too bad. There are two independent coffee places here, and they thankfully seem to be doing alright inspite of the looming Starbucks presence.
Yes, there were lots of comments about Blue Bottle in the previous post about Peet’s.
While I have no doubt that it’s a wonderful place that serves superb coffee, I think people are indulging in a little bit of snobbish oneupmanship here. I think 99.9 percent of the people in the San Francisco area will never go to (much less even be able to locate) a single high-end gourmet coffee shop on an obscure alley in San Francisco, and 95% of all people in San Francisco will never go there either. For those of you who have the time, good for you. But for the other 2.5 million people in the area, it’s mainly a matter of choosing Starbucks or Peet’s, and your awareness of The Best Little Coffee Shop In Heaven will not affect their choice.
I’m one of those who tends to avoid chain stores when possible and/or practical… but as I mentioned in the post Mark linked to, at least at one Peet’s location, there’s some passion about their product which is always endearing.
Starbucks is also one of the few places you can count on getting Wifi if you’re outside of major met areas. Visiting my parents in the IE a couple of weekends ago, I needed to get some work done. Starbucks was simply the expedient option.
Similarly, when I was in the southern Californa desert last fall, the only place I could connect was a McDonald’s. Which I gladly patronized for this purpose. And the connection, while it cost $4 or something for the day, was excellent.
Incidentally, the documentary “Super Size Me” is playing on MSNBC tonight (March 14).
I just went to the new Peet’s in the Orrick building. They do seem to be expanding quite a bit. Reasons I like Peet’s:
- out and out colonial, no covering up like s’bucks wants to do
- very good coffee, though burnt when you buy @ store
- mellow, coffee-only attitude, no mix-CDs or sandwiches
- great pastries
- health care for workers; of all the places I go retail in SF Peet’s seems to have the longest-term employees (except for the one on Montg. which has such high turnover)
- Started in Berkeley (ok, local props)
Having said that, I was really impressed by Clover @ Ritual so may change my coffee snobbery and go there.
Bradley- I’ll try out those beans in SC, interesting!
Also went to an equally good roaster in Baltimore - equal to Blue Bottle.