Collegiate Times

There is nothing inherently evil about corporate success ? isn't it the ultimate aim? But the strategies used to arrive at this pinnacle of achievement are what are commonly criticized (response to "Starbucks Welcome Contribution to Locals" (CT, Oct. 6)). Starbucks has been superbly successful, thanks to its goals of total availability. Admittedly, "one cup at a time" sounds genuine but numbers are often misrepresentative of the greater picture; will Starbucks begin to advertise, "one billion sold?? "100 hundred billion sold?" "999 billion sold?"

Starbucks' availability arises from a placement tactic called "cluster bombing,? getting your business literally everywhere and allowing the ubiquitous availability to naturally draw customers away from local business. While the author mentions they "believe that (their) presence has benefited other local coffee retailers," a previous article in the Collegiate Times ("Coffee a 'hot' commodity in Blacksburg,? CT, Sept. 13) quotes local shops as witnessing less business. Eventually, this abundant availability leads to competition among its own franchises. This has been termed "cannibalization" (Starbucks 10-K 2002) as individual Starbucks are forced to compete against each other or face closing.

According to Starbucks' website, New York City has 158 locations within a five-mile radius. I wonder how many of them are worried about local competition; I also wonder how many of the 158 are worried about the other 157.

"Going global" has its responsibilities. Experiencing the upper strata of corporate success doesn't necessitate poor practices, but it often serves as the best example of corruption. Starbucks desires to be the sole provider of coffee in the world, serving the same cup in Beijing as in Blacksburg. As a warning to us all, I can only reiterate something that never fails holding true, "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely".