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You'd think that the ubiquitous Starbucks coffee chain would have been the death knell for the Bean Bag, a mom-and-pop coffee shop in Bethesda. If anything, Starbucks put more kick in the caffeine purveyor, which is celebrating its 30th year in business.

"It's the best thing that happened to us," said owner Mitchell Wool, whose parents founded the Bean Bag near the intersection of Democracy Boulevard and Old Georgetown Road. "Starbucks single-handedly created a national industry. It created greater demand for coffee. We rode it."