May 17 2010
Coffee Shops
Coffee shops are to coffee drinkers what the local bar is to the martini drinker, a place to enjoy their favorite beverage and social company. These shops are in the business of serving hot coffee drinks and the occasional pastry or sandwich. Some coffee shops serve hot teas as well as iced coffee drinks but they base their business on serving the best, most flavorful coffees in the community.
Unlike bars and restaurants where the atmosphere is often lively and loud, coffee shops are more subdued and filled with people more inclined to be reading, writing or working on their laptops. Well known authors have written their entire novel while sitting in the local coffee shop.
Coffee shops are often the site of business meetings with crucial decisions being made over a cup of steaming hot java. Most communities have one or more local coffee shops that are well known and frequented by many different social groups.
College students seek their coffee drink in order to keep them moving as they go from class to class while many mothers use the shop as their time out and place for a few minutes to escape. These examples are just a few of the many things a coffee shop is to different people.
The history of the coffee shop is as varied as the people who frequent it. In the United States coffee shops appeared as part of the immigration movement from Italy to the U.S. spread. These pastry and coffee shops were major places of business as they grew in areas such as Greenwich Village.
Later, the coffee shop became the scene for poetry readings and folk music. These shops gave these artists a venue to perform when they couldn’t find one elsewhere. Well-known performers like Bob Dylan started out in the local coffee house and made their way to stardom.
As years passed and the popularity of coffee grew immensely so did the coffee shop. At one point the growth of coffee shops was surpassing that of any other business. While this growth has slowed somewhat, the love of coffee has not. Coffee shops now offer free Internet access and access to the most read newspapers in the area, including the Wall Street Journal and other syndicated papers.
The popularity of the coffee shop has not changed much in the past few years. The major change has been in the variety of places they can be found. Churches are not incorporating coffee shops into their lobbies as a way to reach more people and get them into the building; local fast food restaurants are upping the ante by featuring coffee shop type beverages in a hope to cash in on the market.
The bottom line remains the same, coffee is, as the old slogan goes, “good to the last drop” and it hasn’t reached its last drop just yet.
-Sharon Chapman
Also, visit Coffee Shop Stop for more on coffee shops!