Starb*cks has arrived

Last fall, they opened the first standalone Starbucks in Iowa. In fact they opened two in the Des Moines area. And now Starbucks has opened their third store in Iowa here in our fair city, Iowa City. Yesterday, I went to the new coffee shop to check it out. I had a grande caffé latte, which I must admit was pretty good. Not Terrapin good, but good. It’s a small shop, but I brought along some reading material so I could spend some time there. After glancing at the 20 page booklet explaining how to order coffee, I thought it appropriate that I had brought The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz to read. I don’t suppose I’ll be going there much. There are at least three local coffee shops closer to where I live than Starbucks. But it’s something new. Starbucks is something new.

I know my coastal friends are choking down their grande, quad, ristretto, nonfat, dry cappuccinos as they read this, but isn’t it weird that Iowa is good enough for John Kerry, Howard Dean, John Edwards, and the rest of the Democratic contenders but wasn’t good enough for Starbucks? It’s as if someone had to be bribed at a very high level to bring the coffee chain to Iowa. Or maybe it was simply that after putting 133 or so stores in New York City they were out of ideas, and someone said, “Hey, what’s that state in the middle?” And someone else at the meeting replied, “Ohio.” And someone else said “Idaho.” “No you idiots, it’s Iowa.”

Or maybe Starbucks got scared of Midwestern Big 10 college towns after people were putting bricks through the windows of the State St. Starbucks in Madison. Who knows? Anyway, I had the coffee, and it’s good. It cost me $3 + tax for my grande latte, which is about par for this area. For better or worse, Starb*cks has arrived.