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Everything but the Coffee
Learning about America from Starbucks
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2009
About this book
Everything but the Coffee casts a fresh eye on the world's most famous coffee company, looking beyond baristas, movie cameos, and Paul McCartney CDs to understand what Starbucks can tell us about America. Bryant Simon visited hundreds of Starbucks around the world to ask, Why did Starbucks take hold so quickly with consumers? What did it seem to provide over and above a decent cup of coffee? Why at the moment of Starbucks' profit-generating peak did the company lose its way, leaving observers baffled about how it might regain its customers and its cultural significance? Everything but the Coffee probes the company's psychological, emotional, political, and sociological power to discover how Starbucks' explosive success and rapid deflation exemplify American culture at this historical moment. Most importantly, it shows that Starbucks speaks to a deeply felt American need for predictability and class standing, community and authenticity, revealing that Starbucks' appeal lies not in the product it sells but in the easily consumed identity it offers.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: Bryant Simon
Bryant Simon is Professor of History and the Director of American Studies at Temple University and the author, most recently, of Boardwalk Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America.
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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CONTENTS
vii -
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ix -
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Introducing the Starbucks Moment
1 -
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I. Real Coffee
21 -
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II. Predictability the Individual Way
58 -
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III. It Looks like a Third Place
82 -
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IV. Self-Gifting and Retail Therapy
122 -
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V. Hear Music for Everyday Explorers
149 -
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VI. Not-So-Green Cups
173 -
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VII. Sleeping Soundly in the Age of Globalization
201 -
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Afterword
239 -
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A Note on the Research
247 -
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Notes
253 -
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Selected Bibliography
279 -
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Index
289
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
July 22, 2019
eBook ISBN:
9780520945173
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
320
eBook ISBN:
9780520945173
Keywords for this book
starbucks; starbucks movement; american society; 21st century american culture; consumer identity; predictability; retail therapy; class standing; class in america; coffee; globalization; sociology; american culture; american studies; coffee company; socioeconomic concerns; cultural anxieties; self gifting; class difference; business and industry; consumerism; psychological power; emotional power; political power; community; authenticity; money; money and power; economics; music; business
