My theory of the fall of Starbucks is that this is just one instance of a trend I refer to as "The Conspicuous Consumption of Knowledge". In this case, knowledge of the locale is a point of pride, customers of independent coffee shops know more about the places they frequent, and they know it better than anyone else, and can impress their friends by introducing the wonderful little place that they have found. But you see the same trend manifesting in other ways as well; whether it's knowing the right shoes, to renewably sourced power; it's what the customers know, or think they know, that makes or breaks the experience. And much of the time, they want to know these details so that they can display their knowledge in social situations.