Cory Doctorow in a recent BoingBoing posting says…
That Starbucks in Britain are filthier than their US counterparts because the US customers are conditioned to clean up after themselves while the British customers do not.
Well, maybe, but its deeper than that.
My most local Starbucks is in the Trafford Centre.
When the centre opened I went there and wanted to try out the Starbucks.
I had been conditioned by all the coffee shops shown in US shows to expect somewhere that was actually COMFORTABLE.
US coffee shops are third places, comfortable places, places to sit, talk, socialise.
The experience I received in Starbucks in the Trafford Centre was different.
The seating was hard, cold aluminium chairs, set close together in a cramped area.
This does nothing to foster a thirdspace atmosphere. So, maybe, UK starbucks are dirtier because the company does not foster the same social experience as the US stores.
Not having gone to a Starbucks in the US, I don’t know if the same experience is evident there, but its just a thought.