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Have you ever visited two different Starbucks—either blocks away from one another or whole continents apart—and thought, “these stores all look the same?”
There’s a reason for that: consistency is one of the key selling points of large chains, and it’s the reason why stores and restaurants like Target, McDonald’s, and Panera Bread look the same no matter where you go.
Independent coffee shops, on the other hand, often hang their hats on individuality. But recent research suggests social media and other cultural influences have created a monoculture aesthetic, meaning more and more independent shops look the same.
The idea of aesthetic homogenization isn’t new. In 2016, cultural critic Kyle Chayka coined the term “AirSpace” for the sterile international travel experience created by tech companies like Google, AirBnB, and WeWork. No matter where in the world you go, you can have the same experience—and this extends to coffee. Chayka wrote in The Verge that cafes from Los Angeles to Seoul might feature “the same raw wood tables, exposed brick, and hanging Edison bulbs.”
A new study, published in March in the journal City, Culture and Society, attempted to quantify this theory. The researchers built a list of 23 elements found in 50 U.S. and Canadian coffee shops—things like exposed brickwork, reclaimed wood, and tattooed baristas. They asked participants to identify their favorite local coffee shop and choose which of the 23 elements applied to the space. They were also asked to upload photos of the shop.
Two-thirds of respondents identified baristas with tattoos or piercings in their favorite coffee shops; 56% noted reclaimed wood elements; and half noted exposed brick.
In the second part of the study, a new group of participants were asked to match the coffee shops in the uploaded photos with a particular city; they were generally unable to do so. “I consider [locating the survey coffee shops] impossible,” one participant wrote. “Honestly, these aesthetics are very transferable now,” noted another.
“Independent coffee shops in North America have become so similar aesthetically that their location cannot be picked from a lineup,” the study’s authors wrote in an article for The Conversation. They point to social media algorithms as one potential cause. Platforms like Instagram, the authors argue, promote aesthetics that the widest selection of people will like and engage with. Another possible culprit is the financial costs of opening a coffee shop, which causes owners to choose from the same cheap, accessible materials like reclaimed wood.
Notably, the study was conducted between 2017 and 2020. Since then, the trend may have shifted back toward individuality and fun. As Mikey Rinaldo wrote for Fresh Cup in 2022, “many brands are rallying against minimalist trends, embracing maximalism as an aesthetic with colorful branding and busy and bright designs.”
Read more on the Edison bulbs and exposed brickwork here.
Photo by Anton Lammert on Unsplash
