There are lots of local coffee shops, depending on where you're from, that still thrive equally is fine with Starbucks alive and well. I believe that the reason Starbucks is so popular, though, is just because of the fact that things are fully customizable. You can change things on the mobile app. It's a sense of ease if you're traveling. I personally just go to Starbucks sometimes because it's easy to recreate a similar drink for relatively low prices. In my personal opinion