November 3rd, 2009 by Rachel | Country: France | 1 Comment »
When I was in Paris in 2006, I saw only ONE Starbucks in the entire city of Paris, and it was located right by la Défence. Then, when I was in Paris last summer, I saw at least one Starbucks in each arrondissement. However, this past recent trip to Paris was completely different. I encountered Starbucks on every block in the city! In fact, there are about 40 Starbucks total according to the store locator on their website. While I dearly love Starbucks as frappuccinos are the only caffeinated drinks that I can drink – this place is my life saver during the intense moments at home such as finals! However, I don’t mind Starbucks existing in the US, my home country, because it was founded in MY culture AND cafes barely existed in the US unlike France.
France is already loaded with a huge range of various cafes with their own unique menus. Starbucks did not need to come to France. In fact, at one point, a friend of mine from Paris, told me that we should meet up at Starbucks. I told him hell no because I already have Starbucks in my country, and I’d rather enjoy being at a cafe that does not exist in my home country. I asked him why he prefers Starbucks over all the other distinct cafes. He responded, “They’re cheaper, and their stuff tastes really good.” When I heard the word, “Cheaper,” my ears were puffing out steams. That was the last thing I wanted to hear. As someone who knows the behind the scenes of Wal-Mart, America’s mega big box corporation, through reading articles in the news, that meant that Starbucks could create a dangerous impact on the society in France. Wal-Mart caused nearby unique and non-chain stores to close. In fact, according to the book, Life Inc. by Douglas Rushkoff, for every two jobs created at Wal-Mart, the local community loses three jobs according to the Congressional Research Service report. From what I saw of the explosion of Starbucks in Paris, I can foresee cafes closing and causing their employees to lose their jobs – a parallel that I see with the Wal-Mart trend. This is just simply an analysis of mine, and I’m not saying that this case will happen. I’m just creating a theory.
It’s a really sad thought…
Also, the fact that my friend from Paris mentioned that Starbucks is cheaper than other cafes, I wonder how well the employees are treated as the employees at Wal-Mart not well treated according to various sources in the news media.
1 Comment
caroline
November 14, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Rachel, Cafés in France (especially in Paris) make a LOT of money on coffee. Believe me, I lived in Paris for 33 years (I was born in Paris…) and when I see how much I would pay a coffee on the Champs Elysées, I’d rather go on a Starbucks… And sometimes coffee tastes better on a starbucks than on our “French cafés”. I LOVE coffee, I drink coffee all day long, but I wouldn’t pay 7 or 8€ for a coffee ! NO WAY, even if it’s on the most beautiful avenue of the world…