WE PROMISE YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO WALK MORE THAN 10 FEET FOR A CUP OF COFFEE

We finally know who to blame for the fact there are now Starbucks stores every half a block. And no, it isn’t Starbucks, of course, but their consumers. According to Launi Skinner, vice-president in charge of Starbucks’ store development, the coffee chain is practically forced to sell coffee in every available retail outlet because their customers don’t want to walk too far to get a drink. “Going to the other side of the street can be a barrier,” claimed Skinner, who reported that Starbucks has plans for over 30,000 new stores worldwide to add to the 12,440 they already operate. Meanwhile, in other caffeinated news, Oxfam has accused Starbucks of blocking Ethiopia’s attempt to trademark the names of two of its types of coffee. While the name Yirgacheffe now belongs to Ethiopia, the trademark applications for the names Sidamo and Harar have been stalled in the US Patent and Trademark Office. “We have heard from a number of sources that actually Starbucks was involved in alerting the US coffee association to block these applications,” claimed an Oxfam spokesperson. Starbucks denies the charge. (AP / ITV.com)