The Board of Supervisors voted in September,
to ban a new Starbucks on Geary and 5th Ave, an area that desperately
needs foot traffic and retail stores. The decision is part of a
permanent and pervasive anti-commerce politics in this city.
Starbucks generates new foot traffic, new business and more coffee shops. Here are the facts.
The first Starbucks to open in San Francisco was in 1992. Starbucks currently has 80 outlets here. There are currently 250 non-Starbucks coffee shops listed in the Yellow Pages.
When Starbucks opened there were 55 "Coffee, Retail" outlets in the S.F. Yellow Pages. That is more than the actual number since many of these outlets didn't make espresso or open before 8AM. Five of the 55 were Spinelli's and 3 were Peet's.
The presence of Starbucks increased the number of non-Starbucks coffee shops in San Francisco from 55 to 250 in 15 years. Four times as many today.
Was Starbucks the reason? Yes. We have a perfect test area: North Beach.
North
Beach has no Starbucks shops thanks to the local anti-commerce
political majority. (North Beach runs from Pacific Ave. to Octavia on
two blocks surrounding Columbus Ave.) North Beach had 8 regular coffee
shops in 1992. I should know, I've been a North Beach coffee habitue
since 1978. North Beach today has 8 regular coffee shops. The same
number.
Pretty good proof that Starbucks generates coffee shops that would not exist without Starbucks leading the way.
Here is a video of the desolate and hopeless corner where only a Starbucks could have worked.