"Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
> "So it's this huge corporate leviathan trying to act like it's
> all homey and neighborhood-y, and I don't think that's going
> to work. I mean, if that worked, if the little neighborhood
> coffee shops worked, why did Starbucks put them all out of
> business so easily? I mean, wasn't there an economy of scale
> going on for Starbucks?"

>
> Sebastian Simsch, co-owner of Seattle Coffee Works, says
> Starbucks scouts visited on three separate occasions. While
> he was flattered, he wonders what exactly they were looking
> for.

Just a guess on my part, but Starbucks had many loyal customers and many
loyal detractors. This may be a way to sell coffee to the detractors. New
name, new image, perhaps lower prices and different blends of coffee.