We’re getting to see plethora of coffee shops and fast food vendors in corwded streets and city centres. The main reason that hits me as I hear the above sentence is because of globalisation.
Firstly, due to globalisation, the spending ability of all the people has drastically increased over the years. This has a direct impact on the food & beverages business. For instance, if everyone is caught up from 9-5 for a salaried job, there is very less time for a person to figure their meals and coffee at home making it the most convenient to grab it from a near by store. As most of the offices are located in the busy areas of the cities, these shops tend to open near by.
Secondly, the other major reason would be that more people having moved from smaller towns to cities for work, there is so much crowd to cater, that is the demand being higher, these shops tend to open and end up making a lot of profit. Additionally, on a brighter side, they end up adding value to employment and to the economic growth. For example, the area called MG Road in Bangalore was initially known for office spaces and eventually becoming a cafe-bar hotspot for the city and this area is adding a lot to Bangalore’s growth.
The major effect that I see here is that, firstly, due to the growth of these cafes and fast food chains in a specific areas and attracting a major chunk of crowd, the other areas remain underdeveloped. Secondly, it can increase exertion to a specific part of the city adding to scarcity of water, chocking due to traffic jams.
Because of the above mentioned reasons, I feel there are multiple coffee shops and fast food vendors in major streets and city centres.
