Thursday, July 28, 2005

Build It and They Will Come

Today Marc Fisher wrote an interesting column about the absence of Starbucks in certain parts of the region. He focused on the few Starbucks offerings in Prince George's County, home to the nation's highest population of affluent African Americans.

A few years ago, there was an urban legend email that circulated about certain companies having a "non-urban mandate" which was code for not locating in black and brown neighborhoods. It listed about 20 companies that would not locate among us, and Starbucks topped the list, along with Best Buy and Eddie Bauer. The email urged a boycott, but to date, I haven't heard that black folks had stopped buying TVs and oversized clothes.

But apparently, the absence of Starbucks in certain neighborhoods hasn't hurt their bottom line. Starbucks has populated downtown DC like a family of bunny rabbits. And they are always crowded with people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. In some places, there are three Starbucks in one neighborhood, all within walking distance of each other. They are about as common as CVS.

But in some ways the article is right, Starbucks is seemingly everywhere in certain parts of the region, and scarse in others. There is no Starbucks east of the Anacostia River, nor is there one anywhere near me in NE (the closest one is in Union Station). Over the line, there are two Starbucks in and around College Park, but according to the article, there are only three more in the entire county. What gives?

It is easy to say that race plays a role, and I think that is exactly the problem. But the problem is not Starbucks', it is ours. Black people are not entrepreneurial--we are consumers. We would rather spend our money on purchases instead of investments. In order to get businesses to come into our neighborhoods, we have to be willing to invest in them ourselves.

In both DC and PG, the mantra needs to be, "If we want it, let's build it ourselves!" In the old days, that is exactly what black folks did when the white businesses refused to serve us. We built in our own neighborhoods, so why can't we do that now? Surely someone has the expertise needed to own and operate the types of service-oriented businesses we crave. If we don't, then who says someone can't learn? This isn't rocket science...

Bottom line, it should not be up to remote corporate officials to decide that who is worthy of patronizing their stores. If we built our own coffee shop in downtown Upper Marlboro or on 12th Street in NE, then Starbucks, Cosi or another corporate coffee conglomerate would take notice, because they'd realize that it was an untapped market. But even more importantly, it would empower us as a people to pursue ownership. Honestly, we could live without another Starbucks because it would be better to encourage local business ownership than to spend money on overpriced coffee beans from Seattle.

I'm talking big because I think big. In the words of Ella Baker, this is bigger than a cup of coffee--its about who owns the store.

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