The Best Coffee

[Paul]

There is a difference in the business model of Starbucks vs. Costa Coffee. Starbucks owns and operates all of its stores, while Costa Coffee (and most other coffee house chains) are franchise operations. O&Os run closer margins of profitability, and will axe, without remorse, a store if it fails to meet the numbers required to stay open.

A franchise operator will usually hang on like grim death because he doesn't want to loose his investment.

As business go, you can't really compare the two companies.

I realise this but I was comparing their success and failure - not how the companies are actually run. I think the fact that Costa is a franchise has benefited it simply because it makes investors worry about opening stores too close to one-another.