Thanks Dave, for Starbucks link........great P.R. on the face of it, and you cant argue with their employment and expenditure figures......BUT......lets see. I still like supporting the smaller local businesses.
Here's a little story. We went into a coffee shop in Penrhyn Road, Colwyn Bay this morning for a spot of lunch. There was only a few people in, together with three staff. We looked at the Menu and saw that the Lunch Menu (which comprises 90% of the food available) was only available from 12pm. It was about 11.40am, so we asked if food was available. Not till 12, we were told! So, we just had drinks and spent our money elesewhere. The cafe in question lost £10+ that we would have spent there on food.
I thought to myself, I can go to Costa and get a Toastie or Sandwich at 7am in the morning, yet can't get similar from an independently owned cafe at 11.40am. Maybe that's why Costa is so successful.