Protesters picket new Starbucks By Sana Danish Daily Staff Reporter Objecting the proliferation of corporate presence in Ann Arbor, a group of more than 20 protesters gathered outside the new Starbucks Coffee on the corner of South State and East Liberty streets Friday. "The opening of the new Starbucks symbolizes something about corporate takeover. It's a cultural cleansing," said protest organizer Kristine Pettersen, a University Spanish lecturer. Pettersen said the protest aimed to encourage people in the downtown area to use their buying power to support local businesses rather than corporately owned coffee shops. "Starbucks is one of the most visual symbols of corporate consolidation," said protester Andrew Cornell, an LSA senior. "Corporately owned coffee shops represent a narrowing of choice for consumers." The manager of Starbucks declined to comment. Protesters passed out fliers stating that although corporately-owned coffee shops like Caribou Coffee and Espresso Royale Caffe already exist in Ann Arbor, they "play by the rules." The flier claims that Starbucks uses tactics like buying out leases from local merchants and saturating the market by setting up several stores in the same area to force the local competition out of business. Sean Carter, general manager of Amer's Delicatessen on South State Street said he didn't have a problem with the recent opening of Starbucks. "This is not something that's very new to us," he said. "Espresso Royale, Caribou and Einstein's are all under corporate ownership." Carter said local businesses are more responsive to the needs of their customers and that the increase in corporately owned businesses brings a homogenization of coffee houses. "I feel we have a closer personal relationship with our customers, and we can tailor to their individual needs better," he said. Cafe Felix co-owner David Landrum said although it is still too early to tell, he thinks Starbucks will affect business for local coffee shops because it is more recognizable. "We see (Starbucks) as more of a McDonalds," Landrum said. "For the person that's not from Ann Arbor, it's something more familiar than a local shop." Music freshman Tara Siesener was inside Starbucks during the protest. She said although she thought the protesters' concerns seemed valid, she was not going to boycott the coffee shop. "I see it as just another coffee shop where you can sit, because half the time the other ones are full," she said. Members of the student groups Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality and Environmental Justice also participated in the protest. SOLE member and RC senior Jessica Bodzin said she thought a protest had been necessary for some time and that it's not just coffee shops facing corporate competition. "Enough local businesses have closed down to merit this protest," Bodzin said. "Schoolkids Records and Wherehouse Records have both gone out of business." KRISTIN GOBLE/Daily LSA senior Ariana Ghasedi was among more than 20 protesters who were picketing the opening of the Starbucks Coffee at the corner of South State and East Liberty streets on Friday. Originally on page 3A in the 1-31-2000 issue of the Daily.