A good friend of mine, David Zhang, recently wrote a blog post about Starbucks and their beliefs in regards to gun control within the store environment. I completely agree with his points that this was a strong move for Starbucks. Not only is it giving them free positive publicity, it shows that they care and are effectively delving into the minds of their customers. What I can imagine the Chief Executive, Howard Shultz did was review Starbucks’s business plan, honing in on customer segments and asking: Exactly what type of relationship do we want to establish and maintain with them? With not supporting the use of or concealed guns in their stores it further promotes the comfortable, friendly environment that Starbucks uses to differentiate it self.

But what exactly is the connection here between a store like Starbucks and guns? Why does a company need to take such steps? Possibly, because in the United States a company like Starbucks is so huge it is engrained in the culture just as much as firearms. Because of this, it is an aspect that business owners need to take into account and recognize their surrounding markets.

In Canada, I’ll be glad just to grab my pumpkin spice latte without worrying about the consequences of accidentally taking the black coffee from the person in front of me.