Cartoon: We Just Lost Our Monopoly

Is Starbucks a Competitive Force?

Don't Fear Starbucks: Why the franchise actually helps mom and pop coffeehouses.

By Taylor Clark

Hyman feared his life's work would be trampled underfoot. Starbucks even promised as much. "They just flat-out said, 'If you don't sell out to us, we're going to surround your stores,' " Hyman recalled. "And lo and behold, that's what happened—and it was the best thing that ever happened to us."

…Strange as it sounds, the best way to boost sales at your independently owned coffeehouse may just be to have Starbucks move in next-door…

… Ward Barbee, the recently passed founder of the coffee trade magazine Fresh Cup, saw this happen scores of times. "Anyone who complains about having a Starbucks put in next to you is crazy," he told me. "You want to welcome the manager, give them flowers. It should be the best news that any local coffeehouse ever had."…

…According to recent figures from the Specialty Coffee Association of America, 57 percent of the nation's coffeehouses are still mom and pops. Just over the five-year period from 2000 to 2005—long after Starbucks supposedly obliterated indie cafes—the number of mom and pops grew 40 percent, from 9,800 to nearly 14,000 coffeehouses. (Starbucks, I might add, tripled in size over that same time period. Good times all around.) So much for the sharp decline in locally owned coffee shops. And prepare yourself for some bona fide solid investment advice: The failure rate for new coffeehouses is a mere 10 percent, according to the market research firm Mintel, which means the vast majority of cafes stay afloat no matter where Starbucks drops its stores. Compare that to the restaurant business, where failure is the norm…

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Has Higher Groundz been impacted?

Google Challenges Wikipedia

Google, Inc. announced Thursday that it is working on a collaborative online encyclopedia that could compete with Wikipedia, the popular user-edited encyclopedia.

The "knol" project – named for Google's shorthand for a unit of knowledge – will allow a user to create an entry on virtually any topic. Like Wikipedia, it will allow anyone to add an entry, but unlike the largely anonymous Wikipedia, it will post an author's byline and profile with each entry.

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The Demand Curve Slopes Downward

U.S. sales of the PlayStation 3 more than doubled in the weeks after the company slashed the video game console's price $100 and launched a low-end model, Sony Corp. CEO Howard Stringer told The Associated Press Wednesday...

The price cut and new model make the PS3 more competitive against Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 as the holiday season opens, Stringer said...

Sony said it had been selling between 30,000 and 40,000 consoles per week before the October 18 price cut from $599 to $499 of the 80 GB model.

Sales rose to 75,000 in the week of October 29, reflecting both the lower price of the high-end model and the introduction of a 40-gigabyte model for $399 on November 2, the company said. And it was the following week that sales hit 100,000, according to Sony.

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Coffee Sales Driving McDonald's Growth

McDonald's Corp., the world's largest restaurant company, said October sales rose 6.9 percent as consumers bought more cinnamon rolls and coffee in the U.S....

McDonald's has posted monthly sales gains the past 4 1/2 years by adding iced coffee and lattes to two-thirds of its U.S. restaurants to compete with Starbucks Corp....

The company started selling a stronger coffee blend in 2006 to win customers from Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain. McDonald's is testing an expanded beverage lineup, including lattes...

Global revenue increased 10 percent to $17 billion, McDonald's said in a regulatory filing Oct. 19.

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Once again conumers are benefiting from competition