Starbucks Didn’t Invent the Third Place

Cafes were socially important places long before and despite Starbucks

Source: Author / Florence, Italy, Santo Spirito, Bar d’Angolo

This isn’t the typical trash Starbucks article.

I have next to nothing against Starbucks. In fact, in two somewhat game-changing ways they play an integral role in the social and cultural fabric of our society.

In this article, we briefly detail both ways, but also give credit where credit’s due for a term Starbucks essentially stole — The Third Place.

While I prefer local cafes, such as the one in the image that anchors this article, I have nothing against Starbucks.

It’s easy to blame Starbucks for running local coffee shops out of business, however the company isn’t Amazon. Compared to local bookstores, local coffeehouses and smaller chains (e.g., Go Get ’Em Tiger in Los Angeles, Ritual Coffee in San Francisco, etc.) have sustained, particularly in great cities.

So, the amount of local you have where you live is as, if not more dependent upon public and private investment in urban areas than anything Starbucks does or doesn’t do.

Come to an urban environment (especially vibrant ones ) — great cities around the world, including the United States — and you’ll find local coffee culture thrives despite…