Starbucks en Chapala
🚨 STARBUCKS IS COMING TO CHAPALA: PROGRESS OR A BLOW TO LOCAL BUSINESSES?
The international coffee chain Starbucks is about to open its doors in Chapala. Its arrival is already raising concerns among local business owners over the impact that a franchise of this size could have on small businesses in the area.
But there is one detail that cannot be overlooked:
The arrival of Starbucks was not merely permitted by the municipal government. Alejandro Aguirre’s administration was the one that promoted and brought the franchise to the municipality.
While coffee shops and small businesses in Chapala have spent years surviving with limited resources, they will now have to compete against an international brand with enormous financial and commercial backing.
The problem is not that there is competition.
The problem is that the municipal government is promoting the arrival of a major chain without having a clear strategy to protect local businesses.
Alejandro Aguirre should explain what concrete benefits this decision will bring to Chapala’s local business owners and what measures his administration will take to prevent large franchises from eventually pushing local businesses out.
Because bringing Starbucks to Chapala can certainly be marketed as “progress.”
But if the price of progress is destroying the businesses that give Chapala its identity, then we have to ask:
Progress for whom?