Brattleboro is too small for a Starbucks, which needs a hurge projected revenue stream before investment in a franchise makes sense. There is an excellent alternative available.
May I suggest lobbying Bart's Homemade, which is headquartered in Greenfield, Mass., to locate a franchise in the downtown River Garden? Bart's has a successful formula of premium ice cream, sandwiches and coffee that you can witness at its downtown Amherst restaurant.
It uses local milk as part of a philosophy to support local agriculture. Quality of its ice cream is comparable to B&J's and Haagen D. It is not a large corporate entity whose shareholders are disparate and distant from the business. It is a community player.
See its website, http://www.bartshomemade.com/
This message has so-far sidesteped the argument about putting up a coffee house on Putney Road. Starbucks wouldn't fit on the commercial strip because the atmosphere is wrong. The problem is, there isn't any atmosphere out there, and a coffee shop can't live without it. The successful little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the former Penney's building was able to draw upon its location as an eddy of sorts, away from the noise and current of traffic on Putney Road but easily reached and near easy parking. There isn't much space on Putney Road for that sort of shop. And the box stores aren't entertaining the prospect. Witness the forced closure of that little diner mecca and the forthcoming evictions of small businesses from the Hannaford plaza.
Forget about Starbucks. Look to a smaller player whose business formula is tailored to the local community.