Well the good news is if the stores don’t do well they’ll close because money talks. I’ll be in Florence next week and will enjoy espresso at a local bar…not Starbucks!
"Another point of view I will offer in defense of Starbucks in Italy, is I have noticed younger locals working behind the bar ... etc". We've seen arrogant sentence many times. It pops up whenever a new global corporation (typically American) enters the Italian market. McDonalds comes to mind. Maybe the same was said when the Grand Tour was at its height and foppish Gand Tour foreigners were enjoying teas near the Spanish Steps. Saying that, we actively encourage mass tourists to always think of McDonald's, Starbucks and friends for personal hygiene needs. It's what they do best. You dont even need to buy anything. Just do it!
I am not a coffee drinker, so that part doesn't fit in to what I am going to say. On my very first tour to Italy, the guide said wherever we were in Rome, if we wanted to use a clean, free bathroom, look for McDonalds! Maybe these Starbucks places can offer the same service? I don't really know, someone living in Florence would have to check it out. It would be great if this were true.
So many interesting points here. I live in the Marais and there was a lot of handwringing when we got our first Starbucks a few years ago. But I’ll tell you what, it’s always busy… although French coffee is generally terrible so it’s not an entirely fair comparison with Italy, the parallels are just with historical areas being infiltrated by global brands. The last few years have brought hipster coffee bars to certain parts of Paris and those are accepted without question even though none of them are French (they’re mostly Asian or Australian-run). The French are very hypocritical about the US – they claim to hate it when it suits them but they’re equally enthralled by it.
And I’m saying that as a non-American. So I also wanted to thank you for acknowledging the UK exists! The majority of newsletters I follow on here are written by Americans and you are literally the first one I’ve ever seen acknowledge that the “us” and “we” referred to doesn’t apply to all their readers.
Thanks for the shout-out Coral! Love this piece you've written. Will restack it. The Via del Corso thing is quite upsetting. Like you said, the train station... OK... but to allow a historic street like Via del Corso start to go in the direction of an American mall, non va bene. 😱
Thought provoking piece! I literally love this quote “You do realize the irony (and hypocrisy) in staying in an Airbnb in a city like Florence all the while deriding Starbucks, don’t you?”
It’s a double edged sword: these American companies have addressed a fundamental gap in these cities (no takeaway coffee, expensive hotel rooms, etc) and as you said invoked a level of competition into possibly a stale market.
But no one travels to Italy for the same old experiences you can get at home. And this is happening more and more. How do we preserve what makes Florence, Florence (or any other European city) but also ensure the city sees a level of innovation?
Well the good news is if the stores don’t do well they’ll close because money talks. I’ll be in Florence next week and will enjoy espresso at a local bar…not Starbucks!
"Another point of view I will offer in defense of Starbucks in Italy, is I have noticed younger locals working behind the bar ... etc". We've seen arrogant sentence many times. It pops up whenever a new global corporation (typically American) enters the Italian market. McDonalds comes to mind. Maybe the same was said when the Grand Tour was at its height and foppish Gand Tour foreigners were enjoying teas near the Spanish Steps. Saying that, we actively encourage mass tourists to always think of McDonald's, Starbucks and friends for personal hygiene needs. It's what they do best. You dont even need to buy anything. Just do it!
I am not a coffee drinker, so that part doesn't fit in to what I am going to say. On my very first tour to Italy, the guide said wherever we were in Rome, if we wanted to use a clean, free bathroom, look for McDonalds! Maybe these Starbucks places can offer the same service? I don't really know, someone living in Florence would have to check it out. It would be great if this were true.
So many interesting points here. I live in the Marais and there was a lot of handwringing when we got our first Starbucks a few years ago. But I’ll tell you what, it’s always busy… although French coffee is generally terrible so it’s not an entirely fair comparison with Italy, the parallels are just with historical areas being infiltrated by global brands. The last few years have brought hipster coffee bars to certain parts of Paris and those are accepted without question even though none of them are French (they’re mostly Asian or Australian-run). The French are very hypocritical about the US – they claim to hate it when it suits them but they’re equally enthralled by it.
And I’m saying that as a non-American. So I also wanted to thank you for acknowledging the UK exists! The majority of newsletters I follow on here are written by Americans and you are literally the first one I’ve ever seen acknowledge that the “us” and “we” referred to doesn’t apply to all their readers.
Thanks for the shout-out Coral! Love this piece you've written. Will restack it. The Via del Corso thing is quite upsetting. Like you said, the train station... OK... but to allow a historic street like Via del Corso start to go in the direction of an American mall, non va bene. 😱
Thought provoking piece! I literally love this quote “You do realize the irony (and hypocrisy) in staying in an Airbnb in a city like Florence all the while deriding Starbucks, don’t you?”
It’s a double edged sword: these American companies have addressed a fundamental gap in these cities (no takeaway coffee, expensive hotel rooms, etc) and as you said invoked a level of competition into possibly a stale market.
But no one travels to Italy for the same old experiences you can get at home. And this is happening more and more. How do we preserve what makes Florence, Florence (or any other European city) but also ensure the city sees a level of innovation?