> In the US specialty coffee shops may be just as expensive or more expensive than Starbucks.

That was the case where I live for the longest time. Starbucks wasn't great, but it was a pretty big step above McDonalds and the others, and the local shops, while great, were way more expensive than Starbucks.

But now that's no longer the case, really. Plenty of local, really good coffee shops here that are now the similar pricing to Starbucks now that Starbucks has been consistently jacking up prices. Starbucks has no right to be asking $15+ for a triple shot 20oz drink when I can get a much better tasting one for the same price at the local shop across the street.

Where Starbucks still won was availability and consistency. They are literally everywhere, open later, and the recipes are so formulaic now that I know exactly what I'm getting no matter which shop I go to.

They do need to go back down in price though and settle back into that happy middle place.