If you pay attention to who the article describes are the regular customers, you will see that except for in the financial centres of cities (and even there to some degree)  that these are people that are at the low end of the pay scale, retired, not working, on ODSP etc.  Downtown, it's the clerks, office assistants etc.  These people are just happy to get a coffee and doughnut for not too much.  Quality not required.  Go to Starbucks and observe who is buying (I'm not saying the quality is much better), but there is a social delineation. The small, artisanal, privately owned coffee shops are the only ones with actual quality.