Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, lives in Seattle and gets a lot of media attention. It is my perception that Howard's main concern is that Starbucks makes money, and I wonder if site locations are chosen mainly with an eye towards economic demographics and discretionary income. I am certain there are many middle-class and well-off areas with a majority population of minorities, and do they not have Starbucks?
I can think of a lot of poor white towns in Washington state that do not have a Starbucks, but in the wealthy Eastside area, home of the dot-com millionaires, there are scads. I suspect Howard is going where the money is.