This Starbucks thing again

Once again the question of a Starbucks coming to Vicksburg has become a thing on social media.

The plans for a Starbucks have been submitted and are sitting on the shelves or desk at the city planning office. The Vicksburg Daily News published them a long, long time ago in internet days.

We took this picture way back in the dark ages of April, 2019.

The opposition to Starbucks in Vicksburg seems to be multifaceted. There are a lot of people who don’t like Starbucks for personal reasons. Reasons all the way from a dislike of Starbucks due to rumors of the CEO saying bad things about our military to rumors of the way police have been treated in their stores. The fact checkers say most of it is bull but that don’t seem to matter a whole lot to the internet.

It seems the big issue for most of Vicksburg is the chosen location. Right next to Chik-fil-a and, more offensively, right next to Cafe Paradiso.

Cafe Paradiso is Vicksburg’s favorite coffee shop according to a recent vote. It sits nestled in the corner of a strip mall that includes the wildly popular FitChef, Gumbo Pot and Atami eateries. The plans for a Starbucks places it right in front of Cafe Paradiso. Add in the rumors that the city was planning to spend a bunch of money for an access road to the fire department right in front of the proposed Starbucks and suddenly all the red flags are in the air.

This random picture of coffee makes you feel good.

For one, we support one another in the South, sometimes. But we really support one another in the South when some big name, out of state, and suspected commie folks come poking around. We’ve been writing songs about that stuff since Jeff Davis was plucking weevils off his mom’s freshly pulled turnip greens. Don’t come round here trying to tell us how to make our coffee. Weevils may or may not be up on some turnip greens, but you get the picture. Merica.

There are other locations. For example, there is a strip mall that could use a big name infusion. There is also a big mall that could use a big name infusion. There are a lot of locations around town at interstate exits that could use a big name infusion. But putting Starbucks  in front of Cafe Paradiso is a really, really bad idea that will cause that Starbucks to be forever scorned by the community.

People are going to go to anything new in Vicksburg. It is how we do things. The opposition to Starbucks can be overcome on all the other issues except the chosen location.

Give us a Starbucks.

Locate it where it won’t directly harm a locally owned coffee shop.