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Comment by ken | Hacker News Reader

Compared to what? Here in the USA there are several places within walking distance from my home that have a Starbucks across the street from another Starbucks. One of them is an intersection where 3 of the 4 corners have a Starbucks. There's at least one building here with 2 Starbucks in it, in case taking the elevator is too much hassle. Japan doesn't sound all that much different in this respect.

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To be fair, a Japanese convenience store is far more useful than a Starbucks. You can buy all kinds of things there, including healthy foods. Starbucks mostly just has overpriced coffee drinks and confections. At a conbini, you can get a healthy meal, and you can even microwave it there, you can get cash from the ATM, you can get a SIM card for your phone, etc. The two just aren't comparable.

A better equivalent than a Starbucks would be a pharmacy like CVS or Walgreens, which do stock light fare such as sandwiches etc. Most of this food is usually dry or unpalatable unlike the savoury foods available in Tokyo convenience stores. NYC will have a "dollar slice" pizza joint open til 3 AM or 4 AM depending on the neighbourhood.

In my smallish hometown there is a Waffle House (24 hour diner) across a small interstate bridge from another Waffle House. And then there are 2 more within a very short drive.

Are Starbucks [in the US] open 24/7?

Edit: added [in the US].

The one located at Times Square in NYC is [0] but that's the only one I've seen so far.

[0] https://www.starbucks.com/store-locator/store/13918/43rd-bro...

I believe the one on Roppongi Doori in Tokyo is.

Sorry, I should have added "Starbucks in the US" - edited :)

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