Is Starbucks caffeine more addictive?

The Seattle cafe is the first Starbucks store. Starbucks is the epitome of Seattle coffee culture, and the rest of the shops can only struggle to catch up. Matthew Ryan Williams for The New York Times

Seattle-over the past two decades, Seattle has been injected with caffeine and become so active that it has risen in pop culture as a symbol of fashion-geek culture. and what energizes it is what really contains caffeine: coffee.

Like salt and pepper (or, more appropriately, cream and sugar), coffee and Seattle become the same thing, and the two words modify and reinforce each other. Of course, this is mainly due to Starbucks, the coffee giant that goes from here to the world. Starbucks exports coffee beans and cups of coffee drinks around the world, packing everything in a cool, earthy style, as if it were an interpretation of the Pacific Northwest way of life-an interpretation that may or may not reflect reality.

But what would it be like to compete head-to-head with Starbucks on a latte on the turf where it thrived? You have to ask Demi Larson (DemiLarsen). The 25-year-old is the manager of Tarly Coffee (Tully'sCoffee), a struggling local coffee chain that was positioned years ago to offer coffee addicts in Seattle another option-its storefront is brighter, while Starbucks's is dimly lit; its coffee is moderately roasted, while Starbucks coffee is mainly deep-roasted.

"Starbucks started the conversation," Larson said at a Tarly coffee shop near the University of Washington (University ofWashington). However, at a time when Starbucks has become a global designer brand, Tarly Coffee is trying to maintain its local identity, focusing on good coffee, Larson said. "I have Coach bags, Gucci sunglasses and Starbucks coffee," she said of people's brand psychology. "however, we are also well aware that some people reject Starbucks -'do you belong to Starbucks? Don't belong? Oh, great. Then we can buy real coffee.'"

Tarly's coffee, which once had 200 stores on the west coast, filed for bankruptcy protection this month.

Matthew Ryan Williams for The New York Times

However, because you have to work harder in second place, it may be a good slogan, but it is not a good business model. This month, Tarly Coffee, which expanded to about 200 stores at its peak, mostly on the West Coast, stretching south from Seattle to California, filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 and closed many of its stores because of rising costs, bad real estate decisions, fierce close competition from the giant, and the reality may be so ruthless: it is hard to beat Coach and Gucci.

Why is Seattle so synonymous with coffee that the window of a Starbucks coffee shop built in the 1970s has become a scenic spot for tourists to take pictures in the city center? This is a question of whether there is a chicken or an egg (if there is such a problem). Is coffee so popular because the place is in great need of stimulants (a chemical that helps people recover from the dark, moist air)? Or is it, on some level, an idea created by marketing that becomes true through repetition?

"this Seattle concept expresses the idea of a livable city," said JamesLyons, a senior lecturer in the English department at the University of Exter (University of Exeter) in the UK. It runs through the DNA of every high-end coffee retailer, whether they agree or not, whether they will admit it or not. " In his book "selling Seattle" (SellingSeattle), Lyons discusses Seattle's urban identity and how the city's "specialties", from coffee to junk rock music, are integrated for fun and profit.

"every time I see a cafe facing the street offering outward-facing seats for customers to sip coffee while watching the world come and go outside," Dr. Lyons said in an email. I feel like this coffee shop owes Starbucks and its birthplace Seattle a favor. "

Abdullah Almdain sits in a coffee in Tarly in Seattle. The only reason some people prefer Tarly is that it's not Starbucks.

Matthew Ryan Williams for The New York Times

Scott, president and CEO of Tarly Coffee

Pearson) said that coffee and dairy prices rose, but could not be fully passed on to consumers, while stores that signed up to lock up stores before the Great Recession, when the economic outlook was as frothy as cappuccino, were difficult to maintain in more difficult times in recent years. He said the company will continue to operate and hopes to get out of bankruptcy protection early next year.

Meanwhile, Starbucks is not waiting for the next challenger to grow.

CraigRussell, senior vice president of global operations at Starbucks, said the company has recently refurbished its stores around the world to trace its history to the ideas of Starbucks when it was founded more than 40 years ago. At that time, no one saw Starbucks as a symbol of Seattle.

"they give people a sense of the Pacific Northwest, but they also have local characteristics," he said. For example, we have a store in France that uses the wood of a wine barrel as a building material. "

Tarly, a small chain in Seattle, is trying to position its coffee as a local coffee company different from Starbucks, putting coffee quality first.

Matthew Ryan Williams for The New York Times

Like Hollywood's entertainment industry and New York's financial industry, some industries brand their names deeply into the soul of the city. But there are some companies in Seattle that don't sell coffee.

The Family espresso maintenance and Caf é (Home Espresso Repair andCafe), founded and operated by several former Starbucks employees, is a case in point. There are only two tables, an old guitar hangs on the wall, and a small room behind is filled with carefully restored old household coffee machines, some of which are copper-and-iron antiques with foam pots that look like fire extinguishers. There are also some small and exquisite Nordic designs that can be called works of art.

Shari Rainlyn repairs coffee machines at the store and also makes coffee at the front desk. "A lot of people say that big chains like Starbucks and Tarly blackened coffee," he said. However, without these big enterprises, my place would not exist. Of course, I won't go to those coffee shops to buy coffee on Saturday morning. No. "