Sometime during Spring 2006, Dunn Bros. opened a third coffee shop within walking distance of where I live.  Concerned about the way Dunn Bros. is contributing to the homogenization of the neighborhood, I wrote Jim Waltmann (the company's Development Coordinator) to express my concern.  See the dialogue below.

 

Subject: Feedback from the Calhoun area

HI Jim,

I'm not sure if you are the right person for me to write to, but I wanted to give some feedback (would you pass this along to anyone else appropriate)?).

As a resident of Uptown, I've enjoyed having Dunn Bros. in the neighborhood, as Dunn Bros. does a nice job making the coffee shop comfortable andinteresting inside. It has been one of many interesting coffee shops that brings variety and diversity to the neighborhood and community here.

However, I was disappointed to see yet another Dunn Bros. open in my neighborhood (Lake and Bryant). Uptown is dealing with (and successfully in many ways) the homogenization of its businesses, which ultimately leads to the loss of the unique qualities that makes the Uptown area so interesting to its residents and visitors alike.

I am writing to ask that Dunn Bros., as a Minnesota company which obviously appreciates diversity of business (judging by the unique interior layout of each Dunn Bros. location), consider taking steps toward supporting the unique character of our neighborhood (and other neighborhoods throughout the Twin Cities) by selecting locations for new franchises not solely based on financials, but by also considering its impact on the character of the neighborhood.

Thanks,
rich pagen

 

Rich,
Thanks for taking the time to write. I would like to know more about exactly what you mean. Can you give me an example of a better scenario for that particular neighborhood or Uptown in general?

It's important to note that our stores are franchised and so they are all locally owned. Most of our owners work in their stores every day, trying to serve their neighbors best they can. We also stress to our owners that they become involved at the local level. Not just Minnesota-local but the individual communities we go into such as Uptown. We participate in the events as well as the organizations and offer free display of art, free WIFI and as a place for organizations to meet.

All three of the Uptown stores are all owned by the same couple. I know they feel a close tie to their community and tried very hard to make the new store as comfortably as possibly for the local clientele.

That last thing I want to do is just try to "blow our own horn" but I want you to know that as a company we are definitely concerned with the impact of our stores on a community.

Thank you for the time to discuss it & please tell me more. I will share your comments with everyone else at our office.

Respectfuly,
Jim Waltmann
 

 

Hi Jim,

Thanks for taking the time to write back. Let me explain further.

I agree with you that Dunn Bros. provides a valuable product: excellent coffee, a nice atmosphere, free WIFI, an outlet for local musicians and artists, and a community meeting place. I also agree that Dunn Bros. franchise owners, as members of the community, are very likely to be concerned with community issues, as well as the role and impact of their franchise on their community. The business from the inside is certainly well thought out, and well executed.

My feedback, however, is focused on the role that Dunn Bros. coffee shops play in the landscape of the neighborhood, the community and the city. Despite the fact that most Dunn Bros. have different franchise owners and that those franchised businesses are locally owned, each Dunn Bros. coffee shop is guided by the principles of the “mother” company and is therefore very different from a locally owned and INDEPENDENT business (like, for example, Crema Café (Sonny’s Ice Cream) and the CRC coffee shop, both on 34th and Lyndale Ave. S). The benefits of these locally-owned and independent businesses to communities are well known (provide local entrepreneurial opportunities, keep money in the local community, increase available choices to consumers, offer unique goods and personalized services, and contribute towards community identity and cohesiveness). In general, I (and many of the people in my community and in my life) see the value of supporting small, locally-owned and independent businesses whenever possible, both within my community or in any communities I happen to be visiting while traveling.

Also well known are the negative effects that large national and international companies (whether their stores are company-owned or franchised) can have on communities if they don’t regulate themselves and their practices. These include forcing smaller businesses to shut down due to their inability to compete, stifling local citizens’ abilities to start new businesses, an intrinsic inability to be personal and to understand local issues, and a disruption of community identity. In addition, these large companies (often “chains”) homogenize our communities by being present in every city from Maine to California. Our city landscapes all start to look the same, and all regionalism is lost. If we think of our city landscapes as works of art (which they are) and the city as an art gallery, do we really want the same exact paintings hung in every art gallery in the country? And within an art gallery, do we really want the same painting (no matter how amazing it is) hung in every room in the gallery? When one business gains a disproportionate amount of power and its chains/franchises become the only option to the community, the community no longer has a choice.

As a citizen, I am constantly weighing my options as a consumer and carefully spending my money on businesses and products that I see as valuable and that I’d like to see more of, and not spending my money on those that I feel are detrimental. This is very difficult, especially because many businesses and products are right on the line, and each of us has to determine where that line is for ourselves.

Many Twin Cities businesses have grown to a stage where they have several locations in the Twin Cities or beyond (i.e., Sawatdee – 5 locations, Pizza Luce – 3 locations, Bibelot – 4 locations) and are therefore midway between the two examples I mentioned above. In these cases, we must weigh factors like the company’s choice of locations, overall positive/negative influence on the community and other businesses in the community, and, most of all, their business plan. Do they intend to grow as big as the market allows, or have they worked into their business plan a strategy that fights the urge to grow excessively so they don’t lose what made them so desirable to their community in the first place? All of us must ask these questions and draw the line where we think it should be.

Though I tend to patronize small, locally-owned and independent coffee shops, I have patronized (and have enjoyed) Dunn Bros. as well. However, when I saw a third Dunn Bros. open in my neighborhood (Lake and Bryant), a “red flag” went up, and it occurred to me that perhaps Dunn Bros. as a company doesn’t “draw the line” in the same place as I do when it comes to striving for diversity of business, and being concerned about the homogenization of our cities. As I researched further, I learned that there are no fewer than 19 Dunn Bros. locations in the city of Minneapolis alone (not to mention those throughout the country). Despite the fact that Dunn Bros. began here in the Twin Cities, it is clear that Dunn Bros. has metamorphosized from a small, local coffee business to a large, national coffee/franchising business. I now have three Dunn Bros. coffee shops within walking distance of my house and I personally believe that it is detrimental to my neighborhood, for the reasons mentioned above.

I have brainstormed a list of questions that may help to shed more light directly on what it is that concerns me about the direction that Dunn Bros. has gone as a business. Although I would like to hear the answers to these questions, I am mostly hoping that Dunn Bros. answers these questions for itself.

1. Does Dunn Bros. have a plan for how many stores it will franchise?
2. Does Dunn Bros. exert control over the decision regarding the locations that franchisers can open a Dunn Bros. coffee shop?
3. Does Dunn Bros. see itself as the same as the independent coffee shops (i.e., Vera’s, CRC coffee shop, Anodyne)?
4. Does Dunn Bros. see itself as contributing to the homogenization of the city landscape?
5. Does Dunn Bros. see other business (i.e., McDonald’s) as contributing to the homogenization of the city landscape?
6. Would Dunn Bros. survive as a business if it halted its franchising business? Does Dunn Bros. have any plans to halt its franchising?
7. When a Dunn Bros. coffee shop opens in a particular neighborhood, what effect do you believe it has on the profits and viability of independent coffee shops in the neighborhood?
8. Does Dunn Bros. have any responsibility to the viability of locally owned and independent coffee shops in the communities where it opens a franchise?

I appreciate you listening to my feedback.

Sincerely,

Rich Pagen

Copyright © Rich Pagen. All rights reserved.

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