The Canadian Coffee Industry Sucks

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[ 2005-June-02 19:27 ]

[Update: Please read my follow-up to this misinformed rant] I am a huge espresso addict, and I recently decided that it was time to drop a whack of cash and buy myself an espresso machine and a grinder. Thanks to CoffeeGeek's reviews section, I decided that I would look for a Gaggia Carezza, since it costs about $200 USD and has very good reviews for its price range. If I lived in the United States, I would just go to Whole Latte Love or Aabree Coffee and order one, which would cost me $200 USD including the shipping. However, because the Canadian coffee industry sucks, my life is much more complicated. First, I live in a crappy small town, so it does not appear possible for me to get this specific machine locally. A company in Toronto quoted me $450 CAD (~$360.69 USD) for one, and a company in Vancouver wants $320 CAD (~256.49 USD). I'll be calling more places tomorrow to try and track down a reasonably priced espresso machine. This ordeal leads me to believe that there would be a good niche for a competatively priced espresso machine vendor with good online service in Canada. [Part 2]