Now it's up to consumers

For some, it’s (coffee) grounds for celebration.

As others see it, the Black Death is upon us.

Novelty versus banality, protection versus selection, Bainbridge versus the world – our community dualities inform the minor hubbub over the opening of an internationally franchised coffee outlet on the island this week. Archetypical of the ambivalence was this exchange (paraphrased) between two teens, overheard in the Safeway check-out line:

“We’re going to have a Starbucks! That’s so cool!”

“Yeah, but there’s, like, one on every corner everywhere else.”

And so it goes. When we wrote three weeks ago about the coffee giant’s plans, the company refused to admit that it would be plugging in the corporate pot here – despite the confirmation of city planners and Safeway management, and the fact that the booth was plainly under construction. Perhaps the fanfare-free opening is a “stealth” strategy, residual reticence after Starbucks’ previous, ill-fated attempts to colonize what surely was the last island this side of Pago Pago without a kiosk.

Some have expressed confusion over the city’s acquiescence, when previous overtures by Starbucks and other chains have tended to inflame the twin passions of economic protectionism and “island uniqueness.” Under new management, the planning department contends that the “fast-food ordinance” didn’t apply.

Media interest, meanwhile, has been varied. A television news crew ferried over from Seattle yesterday to document the unveiling; the story even attracted the attention of the Baltimore, Md., daily, which pilfered liberally from old Review stories and mixed in a few wistful cliches about small-town life. The Bremerton sheet boiled down a wire story, then rolled over and went back to sleep.

For our part, we can report that the Starbucks stand is being patronized, the counter workers are very pleasant, and a double-grande latte there tastes remarkably like a double-grande latte at other Starbucks locations, which is both its attraction and its curse.

We were going to do a story, maybe call Starbucks HQ again to see if they would finally confirm that they’re coming to Bainbridge now that they’re open for business. But never mind.

Coffee drinkers know, and they’ll say whatever there is to be said anyway.

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