October 2005 | Hightower Lowdown
Locating Corporate-Free Coffee
by Jim Hightower
Starbucks is now as widely perceived as McDonald’s to be a global symbol of ubiquitous, corporate uniformity.
But let’s not be negative. Instead, let’s celebrate the indomitable spirit of America’s grassroots, independent coffee houses... and the people who support them. I’m one of those people who, wherever I go, seek out the unique, lively, sassy, colorful, funky and fun joints that are locally-owned and representative of an actual place.
If you are interested in finding local shops in your town or in your travels, there’s a handy website for you, called the Delocator. It is the creation of three artists who had a caffeine-induced epiphany a couple of years ago while visiting New York City. Emerging from the subway in search of a genuine Big Apple coffee experience, they found cookie-cutter outlets everywhere... but no local latté purveyors.
Rather than just wail or rail, the three launched the Delocator, a web site that helps folks find locations in cities all across America where good independent houses are. It’s a simple site—enter a zip code and up pops a list of local shops, as well as a list of any Starbucks in the area, in case you want to avoid them.
The Delocator has been a lightning rod for coffeeheads angry about corporate intrusion, standardization and shrinking of choice. It’s had more than a million hits and has an ever-growing database of several thousand independent places to get a corporate-free cuppa’ jo. You’re invited to add your own favorite and make comments.
This is Jim Hightower saying... Delocator.net is a direct way for anyone to strike a blow against the corporate machine.
©2005 Jim Hightower and Associates. Jim Hightower is a columnist and author. Visit jimhightower.com.
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