The Great Coffee War of 2006
Talk about being overcaffeinated: Soon, four different coffee shops will battle it out on East Ninth Street and Second Avenue in New York City. This coffee connoisseur's paradise finds each within 200 square feet of each other.
Prior to today, it was a two-way battle between the chain, Starbucks, and the indie underdog, Mudspot. Today sees the opening of the second Max Brenner outlet in New York, housed in the spot that Starbucks was a year ago and now directionally opposite the retail giant on the south side of the street. And -- according to the sign I read last night -- Veselka is now expanding its operations several doors down, opening its own coffee shop directly opposite the Mudspot.
Talk about craziness, as well as market oversaturation. We'll see who is standing within a year, but my hope is that the plucky and enterprising Mudspot, which I have a lot of love for, continues to thrive.
1 comment:
I tend to stay away from the coffee war front that is 9th st / 2nd avenue and keep my daily intake over by avenue C.
In fact, in my mind anyway, there really is no coffee war going on because the real action is over at ninth street espresso. Those guys are just plain good.
Though I have to say, ever since it was featured in the NY Times prices have gone up a bit and the cups have grow smaller. Lines have also gone from zero to "holy $%^& I can't believe I have to wait like this for coffee I used to walk right up and grab".
Regardless, the dose of caffeine I receive over on 9th and C is, on average, double what I get elsewhere and it's by far the best cappuccino I've had here in the city.
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