The Bread Garden: Of Coffee, Pastries and Toys
I started writing this post in June of 2010, and it languished in the vast dungeon known as my WordPress drafts. Then, this morning, I heard about Starbucks Brewing Up a Merger with Peets Coffee (clever), an acquisition that my secret coffee spy says is 99% confirmed. It reminded me that just seven months ago, I was thinking about the ramifications of a big company swallowing up a small company. Now, an even bigger company is opening its hungry mouth. What follows is my original post. Let me know what you think in the comments.
This is The Bread Garden. It’s located in Claremont where wealthy Berkeley and Oakland collide. There’s an interesting sign taped to the window.
This is a closeup of the sign. You may not care about bread or coffee, but pretend they’re talking about toys. Companies grow and change. Your neighborhood store suddenly has a board of directors. Rules are instated.
This is Peet’s Coffee. Over the last decade, Peet’s became the hipper grass roots alternative to corporate Starbucks. They employed baristas with dreadlocks, and their bathrooms had graffiti. It was a coffee shop for people like us! Then it grew. Fast. Before you knew it, it had that similar soulless Starbuck’s vibe and those uniform pastry counters.
Naturally, Peet’s also has a sign and a story. Rather than a piece of paper taped to a window, it’s a historical plaque.
Why should you care? The Bread Garden’s dispute with Peet’s made me think about our toy scene. For every Peet’s success story, how many independent coffee shops closed their doors? Once upon a time, Kidrobot was a San Francisco designer toy store. Then it was a global multimedia conglomerate run by the former CEO of Crocs. [Ed note: I don’t know what it is anymore, but I do know that 2010 was a rough year for independent designer toy shops.]
What does ethical growth look like?
What do you think?
i think there is very little opportunity for ethical growth in today’s economy. the original starbucks started out as a small local business similar to peet’s, similar to the bread garden.
as companies grow, concessions are made. growth (as specifically related to multiple locations) requires consistency, a certain amount of uniformity, to create brand awareness. it’s public recognition and patronage that keeps bills paid and the doors open.
as consumers, we’re the ones who need to make ethical choices. where do we want to shop? what products do we want to buy? too often the answer comes down to price and convenience.
peet’s had already become starbucks; and if the bread garden expanded beyond a couple of locations it would probably become peet’s. i know it sounds fatalist, but from what i’ve seen, good intentions can’t survive in the current economic crisis.
for the sake of all the ethical small businesses out there, i hope i’m wrong.
Two of my best friends, believe it or not, are a married couple that one works at starbucks, the other at peets. They haven’t heard anything of a merger. perhaps this is very hush hush still…
Also, although the case is the same, I go to the same peet’s every morning, and many of the treats are made locally and supplied by a local bakery specifically to that store.
That said, I realize that’s not the point of the article. Kidrobot gets kind of pissed on for growing, I think many people covet the exclusivity of the brand. That said, they should be proud of them, because their size is in direct proportion to the success of the culture they foster and the brands they embrace.
That said, Peet’s isn’t popular for having shitty coffee. Starbucks is. lol There does come a point I think where size can dillute the finished product. so the fans need to serve as a check and balance and the companies need to listen attentively in order to sustain that balance.