00:00Three coffee chains only a hundred feet away from each other.
00:03So Starbucks still runs American coffee culture,
00:06but the numbers say that grip is starting to slip.
00:09In just the last two weeks,
00:10Starbucks' share of U.S. coffee shop spending
00:12dropped from 52% to 48%.
00:15And at the same time,
00:16the share of Americans who drink coffee daily
00:19has climbed to its highest level in two decades,
00:22with more than 67% saying they drink coffee every single day.
00:26Meanwhile, Dunkin', Dutch Bros', Scooter,
00:28Sevenbrew, and China-based Luckin' Coffee
00:30are expanding like crazy,
00:32especially in suburbs and anywhere with a drive-thru.
00:35Take a look at this stretch of road
00:37right outside a suburban neighborhood in Elkhorn, Nebraska.
00:40Right here is a brand new Hyper Energy Bar.
00:42It's a smaller coffee chain,
00:43but it opened to lines wrapped down the street for days.
00:46And not even 50 feet away up the street is a Sevenbrew.
00:50Same drive-thru model, same traffic backup
00:53when it opened a month later,
00:54reportedly breaking records for Sevenbrew.
00:56And another 100 feet past that,
00:58a Starbucks.
01:00Three caffeine stops, one short strip of road.
01:03It's clear, competitors aren't spreading out anymore,
01:05they're piling in.
01:06All chasing the same morning commuter,
01:08the same after-school rush,
01:09the same 3 p.m. slump.
01:11And analysts are saying the shift
01:13seems to come down to three things.
01:14Price, speed, and novelty.
01:17Cheaper drinks and non-stop app promos
01:19like Luckin's $2 drink deals
01:20are pulling in budget-minded customers.
01:23Drive-thru first chains are winning on convenience,
01:25and oversized drinks,
01:26wild flavors, and limited drops
01:28are grabbing attention,
01:29especially from younger consumers
01:30who live on social media.
01:32Zooming out, the trend is obvious.
01:34Americans are drinking more coffee than ever.
01:36What's changing is where they're buying it.
01:38Heading into 2026,
01:39the question isn't whether Starbucks survives,
01:41it's whether it stays the default.
01:43So be honest with me,
01:45are you still team Starbucks
01:46or are you going wherever's fastest
01:47and cheapest that day?
01:49Drop your answer in the comments
01:50and follow us here for more.
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