In Venti Veritas
Much to the chagrin of my daughter, who’s usually standing next to me, I refuse to use the terms like Venti, Grande, and Tall at Starbucks, instead blaspheming with the order: One large coffee. But the language (and sales) of coffee is going to lean towards Starbucks and other massive chains as the pandemic takes its toll. And this trend is likely to hit many other retail categories as the big players move in to swoop up space once occupied by the indies who couldn’t survive the shutdowns. Bloomberg: Say Goodbye to Your Local Coffee Shop in America’s Cafe Shakeup.
+ While big companies have the advantage during the pandemic, it’s unclear that big cities will enjoy the same. One trend to watch will be how many people who have gotten used to working from home will decide to do so from a less expensive zip code. Microsoft is the latest company to tell employees they can work from home permanently. “While Microsoft employees will be allowed to move across country for remote work, compensation and benefits will change and vary depending on the company’s own geopay scale.”