"Fancy coffee has had its run," said Dean Trucco, owner of Stir Crazy, a boutique coffee shop on Melrose Avenue.
Other folks are starting to buy their coffee in convenience stores, said David Portalatin, director of industry analysis at NPD Group. In the first quarter of this year, 19.2% of consumers going into convenience stores purchased coffee, up from 18.6% in the same period last year.
"As consumers are getting squeezed economically, the overall share of their wallet going into the gas tank increases, so they have to make choices about spending," Portalatin said. Consumers spent $38 billion more on gasoline in 2007 than they did the previous year, he noted.
"I'm not too picky; I buy it in gas stations now," said Garrett Wayne, a freelance artist who feels pinched because of the cost of filling his Chevy Tahoe. He was holding a tray of Starbucks drinks to take back to work but said "the only time I buy coffee like this is when work pays."
If the idea of chugging gas-station coffee instead of your usual nonfat grande honey latte with extra foam sounds like a nightmare, pity Robert Menna, who said he was going to try to cut out coffee entirely.
"It's such a bad habit," Menna said outside a Coffee Bean in Larchmont Village. "It's one of those hidden expenses you don't want to admit."
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alana.semuels@latimes.com
