Local Coffee Shops Face Huge Hurdles From COVID and High End Chains

Americans and Texans in particular have always loved their local coffee houses. Long a place where people could meet friends and family for a cup of joe and perhaps for a quick snack, these corner comfort zones are rapidly becoming an endangered species.

As Americans tastes in coffees have drifted toward the higher end side along with richer darker roasts, largely driven by the overpowering marketing and newer drinks from Starbucks (cafe mochas) and the coming of age along with the rising discretionary purchasing power of generation X, the entire idea of the local coffee shop as Baby Boomers have it is unfortunately headed into realm of memory.

I personally deeply regret this. I have always found that walking into a Starbucks only to be engulfed in a slew of techies earnestly staring into their laptops and cell phones has been off putting to say the least. Then I began to find myself in the midst of job interviews and even corporate meetings.

While I did find the the coffees to be generally quite good I had real problems with the entire intrusive scene. It was as if they were all silently screaming at me “Take your abundantly obvious fear of technology and get the hell out of here!”

So I’ve made it a point to patronize Austin’s local coffee joints whenever possible. Nothing against Starbucks but there’s a soothing comfort to these places, as challenged as they may be by social distancing.

I’ve read that many of them may have to significantly reinvent themselves to have any chance at all of making it through till COVID dissipates. I will do all that I can to help them accomplish that.

Bon chance!