Starbucks Iced by Anti-Chain Measure

San Francisco uses new law to kill coffee giant's 81st outlet

By Jonas Oransky, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 12, 2007 2:57 PM CDT

(Newser) – San Francisco deployed new anti-chain-store regulations to block Starbucks from opening its 81st outlet in city yesterday. Acting on an appeal by local merchants, supervisors found that the planning commission hadn't followed guidelines, voted in last fall, that make it tougher for chain stores to expand in the city, the Chronicle reports.

Proposition G, passed last fall, requires special consideration of the neighborhood character and the number of chains already in the area. The outlet, which was to be connected to a Toyota service center, was the second Starbucks to fall to anti-chain sentiment in SF: in 2003 one was deemed, under an earlier law, "inappropriate" for the Sunset district.

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An existing San Francisco Starbucks Coffee franchise. "I don't want San Francisco to lose its character and become a city of strip malls. ... That's what Starbucks is all about," said one local cafe owner. (Getty Images)

"There would not be a wholesale change of the character of the Richmond because a coffee shop is tucked into a Toyota service center," said a skeptical spokesperson for Starbucks. (Getty Images)

The proposition, intended to protect the unique culture of local businesses, has made it more difficult for chain-outlets to acquire building permits since 2003. (Getty Images)

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Satirist Lewis Black muses on the proximity of Starbucks locations. (Nathan1097 (YouTube))

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Starbucks Iced by Anti-Chain Measure