Holy cow! How scary is this: Starbucks to triple store numbers?! According to the BBC, the company has recently increased its long-term expansion goals to 40,000 stores around the world, with fully half being located in the US.
For those of you not in the US, a fairly recent development here has been the opening of small Starbucks counters inside of grocery stores. For example, the place where we do our primary grocery shopping has a little counter just inside the entrance, roughly the size of an airport food counter. I don't really know if people buy the drink to carry with them while shopping, or to take to the car with them after they finish shopping, but one way or the other I assume people are buying. It's also an excellent way for big-box (or even 'fairly-large-box') stores to monetize their floor space. Viva la consumption!