As PabloE mentioned, a Starbucks coffee is one of the first luxury items people can forgo when money’s tight. $4 dollar coffee is a luxury, plain and simple.
But I’m hoping a Starbucks contraction is more than a sign of a drop in consumer spending, more than a change in spending habits. I want it to mark the beginning of a separation from the overly materialistic, overly consumptive culture we live in – exemplified when we see 2, 3 green and white Starbucks signs within 2 blocks of each other.
Is that just wishful thinking, or could this really suggest a return to modest lifestyles where people really live within their means?
