I have no real evidence, but I think Charlotte Starbucks are in trouble

I have no real evidence, but I think Charlotte Starbucks are in trouble
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Are Charlotte Starbucks in danger of going out of business? Haha. Of course not. Charlotte loves a good Venti Pike. There will always be a place for Starbucks in Charlotte.

But, there’s no doubt that local coffee hot spots like Not Just Coffee are putting a dent in the Starbucks machine.

Charlotteans are also starting to develop relationships with coffee roasters like Pure Intentions, Enderly and Magnolia.

Sure, maybe only 100 people notice that Pure Intentions cold brew is on nitro at Free Range Brewing or that you can order a Pure Intentions cocktail from the Summit Room. But, what happens when those 100 turn into 1,000 and those 1,000 turn into 10,000? These local coffee upstarts are becoming part of our Charlotte culture and building relationships, human by human.

Does this mean that there’s not going to be a huge line at drive-thru of the 2-story Starbucks coming to SouthPark?

Of course not. It’ll be packed.

Starbucks’ stronghold on the Charlotte coffee scene will not last long. If I was a Vegas lines maker I would set the line at 3.5 years for when Starbucks will shrink instead of grow in Charlotte.

What is my far-from-scientific evidence of this grassroots coffee change?

Evidence #1: This is a photo at 7:56am at the Starbucks on East Blvd on Wednesday.

No line. You didn’t see this a year ago.

starbucks-no-line-east-blvd

Evidence #2: My emotions.

I feel oddly guilty holding this.

starbucks-coffee-charlotte

… and oddly proud when I hold this.

pure-intentions-cold-brew

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