Starbucks Coffee: mass market appeal

There's something about Starbucks that makes it appealing to most age brackets. High school students enjoy hanging out at Starbucks, and even "older" office people and retired seniors could be seen hanging out there enjoying a frappucino.

Our metro's populace isn't necessarily one where an average person has extra money to buy cofffee from a high end shop everyday. What makes people actually sacrifice spending on more important things just to have a venti caramel frap?

(Lady and I sharing a frappucino)

Looking inside a Starbucks outlet, you rarely see people just getting a cup of coffee to drink and go. Most of the people patronizing Starbucks tend to stay for a while there. Some don't even drink coffee, yet stay there. Many could be seen typing on laptops and using their wi-fi, while some are just enjoying a book. Plenty of business meetings happen in Starbucks as well, salespeople and clients could be seen meeting to discuss deals.

How many cups of coffee are bought per table per hour? Sometimes, you see ten people chatting over two or three cups of coffee. Do people really go to Starbucks because of the coffee? I don't think so.

It's a great place to hang out though, What Lady and I do, we buy one frap and share it, and I get a few cups of their milk. I'm sure some of you readers have your own Starbucks experiences. Don't hesitate to share them. :)