La Boulange bakeries are a beloved San Francisco tradition, providing gourmet food, beverage, and community, and with value far beyond what Starbucks has deemed given its recent decision to close all 23 locations.

In a city that has shown the world the increasing economic benefit of unique micro-experiences and local sourcing, this is an undeniable error in judgement.

From a financial perspective, we understand that you crunched the numbers and decided that keeping open a small fleet of brick and mortar stores did not benefit the company's bottom line. Did you consider how much value San Franciscans, as a community of powerful brand influencers, give to these locations? Or that you could capture a far larger customer base by a offering a more diverse range of experiences than with the standardized Starbucks chain stores alone?

Did you consider that what this story will be remembered by our city as the corporate giant once again swallowing up the more dynamic little guys, only to throw them away shortly after?

If La Boulange meant so little to your bottom line that you could take away the entire experience from the community it started in, why don't you release it completely? Sell the line to someone who will actually do something meaningful with it, not just tear it apart and burn it to the ground in search of one more treat that you can microwave for a few dollars extra per transaction.

Please, leave us our beloved La Boulange. You will forever win our loyalty.