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It's a fair question -- I live in a suburban town, but I spend a lot of time in the urban center. Thinking of it from this perspective I would say the local bookstore revival is coming to the suburbs, and the coffeeshop quasi bookstore trend is more urban.

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If one were smart, that would be the obvious chink in Starbuck's business model: create a chain of neighborhood-aware, individualized, community-focused coffee shops / bookstores / office-lite / meeting place.

Essentially blend Starbucks, WeWork, Half-Priced Books, FedEx Print & Ship with hyperlocal zine creation and publishing. Offer logistics support and deals to franchisees, then let them be unique.

Starbucks wouldn't be able to compete, because they've essentially defined themselves as "We're the same, wherever you go." Your moat would be the social integration of place and community. And you'd actually be inspiring local creation instead of corporate consumption.

Call it 'Nubucks', slap a shoe logo on there, and make a billion dollars and a better country.

Something like that yes, but they would be high price because supporting corporate overhead requires high margins

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