15 years ago in the UK, very few people had any interest in coffee at all. Starbucks became fashionable, and people started to think about it - and realised tha

15 years ago in the UK, very few people had any interest in coffee at all. Starbucks became fashionable, and people started to think about it - and realised that SB coffee is merely OK, and poor value. It took about 10 years, but SB has become McDonald's in the mind of the middle class and is now dominated by teenagers and students. Adults tend to go somewhere more...sophisticated? Somewhere that serves Illy coffee. Definitely somewhere without the gaggle of teenage girls. The only time I personally visit starbucks is when I am somewhere abroad and want somewhere familiar for 30 minutes. This means city centres work well, but not necessarily outlets in smaller communities. SB may be better served by 'sponsoring' independents rather than running their own shops, if they're looking to divorce themselves from the brand. Work with smaller coffee shops, act as a distributor and consultant service for a cut of the profits. They'd mitigate the risk of opening a coffee shop for a first-timer and have a clean break between the 'sophisticated' consumer and the brand.