An article in the December 16, 2004 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that:
Bryant Simon, a professor at Temple, is writing a book on Starbucks? effect on culture. His research will take him to Michigan, Madrid, Jerusalem and Georgia.
Professor Simon’s research may be descended from that of Steve Penfold, whose Ph.D. dissertation on the sociology of Canadian donut shops won him an Ig Nobel Prize in 1999.
(Thanks to Nick Douglas for bringing this to our attention.)