Artist Embarks On Crusade To Save Independent Coffee Shops

Web Site Helps Local Cafes Compete With Starbucks

For Long Beach artist and Web designer Xtine Hanson, it's a crusade to save independent coffee shops from extinction.

And it all started on a trip to New York.

"I think I was just so surprised that I couldn't find anything but Starbucks in SoHo," Hanson told NBC4.

Hanson feels the big coffee chains do nothing to nurture the soul of the community.

"That will be more likely to happen at an independent cafe where you'll see art from the neighborhood on the walls or you might hear a local band play," Hanson said.

With no interest in the coffee business other than as a coffee drinker, Hanson designed a Web site to help locally-owned cafes compete with Starbucks.

"I just had this moment of clarity that there really could be a tool for this," Hanson said.

She created www.delocator.net, a forum for people to contribute information about their favorite cafes and find new ones.

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