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The mind boggles.

A group have claimed success that Costa - the coffee shop chain - have decided not to have a store in Totnes. A town where there are 41 other independent coffee shops.

41 fething hipster hangouts! In Totnes!!!

[url]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-20079092[/url]

A few snippets.

A national coffee chain has pulled out of a Devon town that prides itself on having independent shops.

South Hams District Council had approved plans by Costa Coffee to open in Fore Street, Totnes.

But in a letter, Chris Rogers, managing director of Costa, said the company had "recognised the strength of feeling" against national brands in the town.

Okay

The town boasts 41 independent coffee outlets and is well-known in the South West for its "alternative" image, with a resident community of artists, writers, therapists, musicians, and herbalists.

Way to be alternative there. How many different ways are their to hold a paper cup of poorly brewed joe?

Again, fething hipsters!

Well I've never heard of the place...

Probably just as planned...

A town supports local business, so they are hipsters? Crazy talk. It's a town that relies on tourism quite a lot, so it's not that odd that they'd have that many coffee shops. People really like coffee shops, especially when they've been wandering around all day, looking at... I dunno, I think they've got an old stone there or something.

Huh... sounds like a little outpost of hippies. Didn't know you had communes on the other side of the pond.

SO are Chavs hipsters?

You know what I need, a good cup of Joe.

Totnes offers a good choice, I've heard.

 htj wrote:
A town supports local business, so they are hipsters?

Yes. Wealth needs to flow into the most productive companies. It's called capitalism.

Whats the Pop of this town?

If a major brand coffee shop would take up one of the larger retail outlets it must be fething tiny.

 Testify wrote:

 htj wrote:
A town supports local business, so they are hipsters?

Yes. Wealth needs to flow into the most productive companies. It's called capitalism.

I thought the complaint was that they had more coffee shops than people.

Let the market sort it out. The job of the government isn't to regulate high street coffee markets.

Must be pushing the tea drinkers out

 Testify wrote:
Let the market sort it out. The job of the government isn't to regulate high street coffee markets.

In this case the local people, acting through the democratic process, have regulated the high street by banning a chain shop they do not wish to set up near their home.

I don't see why governments should not take note of the wishes of the people who vote them into their jobs.

 Testify wrote:

 htj wrote:
A town supports local business, so they are hipsters?

Yes. Wealth needs to flow into the most productive companies. It's called capitalism.

Unregulated capitalism, yes. Regulating capitalism in your town to benefit local business doesn't make you a hipster. It makes you a sensible town. Local businesses make a lot of money for the town, more generally than chain stores do. That is also a part of capitalism. It doesn't have to be a black and white issue. I mentioned in my post that the town relies on tourism - most of the visitors will enjoy the fact that the town has locally run coffee shops, not just another Costa like they have back home. That's why they did it. Calling them hipsters for doing it is just missing the point entirely, and certainly not accurate.

Urgh, very sick of this war on perceived 'hipsters.' Apologies if I came off a little hostile as a result.

I think it was more the idea that a town can end up with 41 different coffee shops is a little odd.

It doesn't appear to be a huge town. Maybe just a few thousand perhaps. 41 coffee shops seems excessive.

 Jihadin wrote:
SO are Chavs hipsters?

No.

Chavs don't appreciate decent things like good coffee.

Hipsters just have to have and like stuff that only they know about. Chavs are too simple minded for this notion. Their primitive proto-brain can't process it.

 VikingScott wrote:

 Jihadin wrote:
SO are Chavs hipsters?

No.

Chavs don't appreciate decent things like good coffee.

Hipsters just have to have and like stuff that only they know about. Chavs are too simple minded for this notion. Their primitive proto-brain can't process it.

Hipsters drink cheap obscure alcohol because nobody else has heard about it.
Chavs drink cheap obscure alcohol because they are broke.

Am I close?

 Grey Templar wrote:
I think it was more the idea that a town can end up with 41 different coffee shops is a little odd.

It doesn't appear to be a huge town. Maybe just a few thousand perhaps. 41 coffee shops seems excessive.

The citizens of Totnes have taken Commander Bond's advice to heart and are preparing to restore the Empire.

 Kilkrazy wrote:

 Testify wrote:
Let the market sort it out. The job of the government isn't to regulate high street coffee markets.

In this case the local people, acting through the democratic process, have regulated the high street by banning a chain shop they do not wish to set up near their home.

I don't see why governments should not take note of the wishes of the people who vote them into their jobs.

If the local people voted to ban ethnic minorities from the city centre, would you approve just as much?

"the people want it" is not valid justification for an action. In a civilised country you need more of a reason to do something, as a politician, than what the hoi polloi feel on any given day.

 d-usa wrote:

 VikingScott wrote:

 Jihadin wrote:
SO are Chavs hipsters?

No.

Chavs don't appreciate decent things like good coffee.

Hipsters just have to have and like stuff that only they know about. Chavs are too simple minded for this notion. Their primitive proto-brain can't process it.

Hipsters drink cheap obscure alcohol because nobody else has heard about it.
Chavs drink cheap obscure alcohol because they are broke.

Am I close?

Nah, Hipsters drink expensive obscure alcohol out of Apple branded glasses, kept on a beer mat made from a v-neck jumper.

My local grocery store caries various flavored and unflavored coffee grounds and beans. A 1 lb bag costs $8-$12 and will last me for freaking ever. Takes 2 minutes to program the coffee pot to have my coffee waiting for me in the morning.

Not sure why the appeal of having Starbucks, etc every day if not to just get out of the house.

 Testify wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:

 Testify wrote:
Let the market sort it out. The job of the government isn't to regulate high street coffee markets.

In this case the local people, acting through the democratic process, have regulated the high street by banning a chain shop they do not wish to set up near their home.

I don't see why governments should not take note of the wishes of the people who vote them into their jobs.

If the local people voted to ban ethnic minorities from the city centre, would you approve just as much?

"the people want it" is not valid justification for an action. In a civilised country you need more of a reason to do something, as a politician, than what the hoi polloi feel on any given day.

Of course not. But I don't believe a system of economic organisation giving special privileges to large companies should have the same rights as human beings.

how do large organisations get special privelege? Do they get granted planning permission where small businesses do not?
I don't know about you but shops around here aren't shutting down because they can't get permission to expand.

Large organisations get special privilege through power and wealth, of which they have a lot more than small companies, which allow them to make various sorts of inducements.

In this case it seems that Costa Coffee were granted permission by the local council over the wishes of the locals.

The fact that the town already had a thriving tourist trade and 41 coffee shops makes it hard to say that it desperately needed a 42nd.

Umm, woot I guess. I love coffee.