Mac'em X

McDonald's: Lapping the Field

JohnnyC, I'm with you. I know those who turn up their noses ay Starbucks' "burnt" coffee, but I like it!

And yet - here in Tokyo, McDonalds' ¥100 coffee is a heck of a deal for someone who just wants to sit down with a decent cup. Add an apple pie and a hamburger, each for the same price - the whole thing costs less than one SB coffee or one sandwich! McDonald's is taking away a lot of SB business with that pricing.

The Key to Starbucks' International Success: Convert the Non-Coffee Drinkers

Another voice from Japan, where I've been for 20+ years: While people like to play up Japan as a non-coffee "tea culture", in truth coffee is everyday stuff here. Presumably since the end of the war, as your friend suggested. There were coffee shops all over here before Starbucks; not just the small, pricey, mom-and-pop "kissaten" shops, but big cheap-cup chains like Doutor, too.

Starbucks did have a huge impact, though: all the local chains immediately scrambled to jump from generic drip brew to espresso-based specialty coffee; they jumped at the "Starbucks look" en masse; and many unveiled new logos oddly similar to Starbucks' (with at least one resultant lawsuit, which forced Doutor to modify the logo of its Starbucks-imitating Excelsior chain).

Tully's also did great here; at one point, there was talk of Japan as the company's only bright spot. I haven't paid attention lately, though, and don't know how both US chains are faring in Japan these past several years.