page_title: Criticism of Starbucks
section_title: Market strategy
hierarchical_section_title: Criticism of Starbucks / Market strategy
caption_attribution_description: English: Footprint of Starbucks in the United States as of February 2012.
context_page_description: Starbucks, an American coffee company and coffeehouse chain, has been the subject of multiple controversies.
context_section_description: Some of the methods Starbucks has used to expand and maintain their dominant market position, including buying out competitors' leases, intentionally operating at a loss, and clustering several locations in a small geographical area (i.e., saturating the market), have been labeled anti-competitive by critics. For example, Starbucks fueled its initial expansion into the UK market with a buyout of Seattle Coffee Company but then used its capital and influence to obtain prime locations, some of which operated at a financial loss. Critics claimed this was an unfair attempt to drive out small, independent competitors, who could not afford to pay inflated prices for premium real estate.
  While relations with independent coffeehouse chains have been strained, some owners have credited Starbucks with educating customers on coffee.
caption: Starbucks' footprint in the United States, showing saturation of metropolitan areas
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