and Starbucks! (Tim Horton's in Canada?)

I recall in the 90's in NYC when there were a ridiculous number of different companies on just about every city block, I remember "Seattle's Best" "Timothy's" and more competing for the caffeinated dollar

then stories about Starbucks doing things like buying some of the smaller coffee shops, and just leaving the stores unoccupied, completely vacant for years, while the nearby Starbucks built their following, at which point they'd sell the property

Don't know a way to legislate against that, it's part of our system, so many disputes and lawsuits are "settled" when one larger company just buys the smaller company as a way to end the claims

thankfully we like Starbucks coffee!

Dow