October 15, 2007
Classic cafes -
fast disappearing, but celebrated in this excellent site. See also.
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"The architecture and ambience of [classic cafes] is fast being levelled in a kind of massive cultural, corporate napalming by the big coffee chains... they will not rest until every street in the West is a branded mall selling their wares. Orwell's nightmare vision in 1984 was of a jackboot stamping on the human face forever. If the coffee corporates have their way, the future is best represented as a boiling skinny latte being spilt in the lap of humanity in perpetuity." (Adrian Maddox, The Observer, Aug 1 2004)
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I think that the ease of travel has contributed to things like this moreso than anything else. People get around. When they go somewhere new, they want to eat something that is predictable. They know that Joe's Burgers might be the best burgers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but they might also suck. They know exactly what the burgers at McDonald's are going to taste like. They may not like them that much, but they know what they will be like. People also move a lot more than they used to. Again, people will then eat and shop at places they ate and shopped where they used to live. It is all about familiarity. When you live somewhere your whole life, all things have equal familiarity. When you go somewhere new, only chains have familiarity.
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I agree about the travel and familiarity. Another factor is simply that chains and franchises have more economic strength than sole proprietors. Certain large coffee chains are alleged to give cafe owners an either/or proposition along the lines of either you sell the business to us, or we set up three outlets in this neighborhood and drive you out of business anyway.
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They're invoking Orwell because of coffee chains? That's really a bit much, isn't it? Monoculture is always a bad thing, but I really have yet to see the small, local chains or cafes being put out of business in droves by the larger franchises. I don't think we have a monoculture yet when it comes to coffee, and the biggest evidence for this is that the quality has not yet suffered. Go buy a Microsoft or McDonald's product, and you'll notice the fruits of a near-monopoly. Maybe I'm completely off-base, but I still enjoy the coffee at Starbucks as much as any local cafe.
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I agree that many people are sheep, but MegaChains, in driving out all the smaller shops and restaurants, has to take much of the blame for the monoculture that is America. How can you eat somewhere regional if McCraps has taken over every small cafe when you get to Oklahoma? I'm the type that doesn't go looking for a burger when I can have a regional specialty or the special of the day. When in Rome... So does Oklahoma have a regional delicacy? BBQ maybe???
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But can I get my bacon, eggs, sausage, and Spam without Spam?