Starbucks Effect

It's interesting when you work with buyers. You plan your day with listings, plan the route, plan the neighborhood tour if your client isn't familiar with the neighborhood. What kind of things do people want to see? The "el," the grocery store, the lake, the parks, and the Starbucks. Seriously - Starbucks - not a coffee shop, not a cafe, a Starbucks. So for the north part of East Lakeview - that would be the Sheridan Stop, the Whole Foods and Jewel, Waveland Ave Underpass, Gill park, and Broadway and Sheridan location.

It's also a selling point from just about every listing agent, "You know the Starbucks is two blocks away?" It's even in some of the marketing materials - oftentimes noted with a coffee cup.

Now don't get me wrong - my office is about a block from a Starbucks. My house is about 500 feet from one, and there's a Starbucks card in my wallet now - but it's seriously become an obsession. It's not a new trend either. Tons of articles have been written on the "Starbucks Effect." Daniel McGinn writes the linked piece for Newsweek. He breaks down retail's effect on real estate values.