A guest column for Quartz reveals the "Starbucks Effect" on real estate values as well as the method to the coffee vendors success.

Spencer Rascoff and Stan Humphries from Zillow share insight into the influence of that ubiquitous coffee chain, Starbucks. To sum up the impetus for the article: "Starbucks equates with venti-sized home-value appreciation. Moreover, Starbucks seems to be fueling—not following—these higher home values."
Rascoff and Humphries assign the credit for this seeming clairvoyance in real estate to the "art as much as science" of a model worth emulating. To do so, the article measures the success of Starbucks on question like the appreciation of home value near the chain's locations (the answer: much faster than the national average and homes located near Dunkin Donuts locations).
The article concludes by going inside the operations of Starbucks to reveal the work that goes into achieving the so-called "Starbucks Effect." Rascoff and Humphries find that Starbucks employs approximately 20 analytics experts and dozens of regional teams to decide where to expand.
FULL STORY: Confirmed: Starbucks knows the next hot neighborhood before everybody else does

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