ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Ten years ago, Starbucks came into Rochester, N.Y., opening six stores in about as much time as it takes to whip up a nonfat latte. While the stores were immediate hits, their arrival made area coffee shop owners anxious.

Would Starbucks' name and marketing savvy drive out the little guys? Would the area become over-caffeinated, a coffee shop at every corner and no one inside?

Since that time, the Seattle-based coffee giant has continued to expand — there will be 17 shops in this area by the end of next month — but the number of independents has grown as well.

Imagine Goliath and David putting their quarrels aside and sitting down for cappuccinos.

"The specialty coffee industry really exploded with the help of Starbucks," said Peter Pelletier, president of Canaltown Coffee Roasters, which preceded Starbucks here.

Mike Lenda, Starbucks' regional marketing manager, said the coffee explosion in Rochester reflects the experience of other areas.

"I'm a firm believer that there's enough customers for all of us," he said.

Starbucks proclaimed, as it does now, that it was a third place, not work and not home, where people can relax and enjoy beverages brewed and steamed just for them.

"I love Starbucks," wrote Dacia Hirsch, 35, of Canandaigua, N.Y., a Rochester Institute of Technology student recently doing some assigned reading at the Mt. Hope Starbucks. "It's the deaf community's favorite place to go enjoy the peace of reading a book or chatting with friends with hot drinks. Today ... I wanted to stop for an 'escape' moment."

Independent coffee shop owners say that their survival has been far from automatic. They've worked hard. They've made changes. They've managed to be like Starbucks but still different.

Mike Calabrese owns Java's near the Eastman Theatre and has shops on the campuses of RIT and Monroe Community College.

"You have to do volume to make it work," he said. "And I'm always here. You have to be around."

Mike Ferrante owns Fairport Village Coffee. "I have a wine bar now," he said, listing some of the changes he has made. "I've expanded my menu."

Robin Benoit and Pat Rapp, both of Fairport, come to Village Coffee because they like the coffee.

"Starbucks coffee is too bitter," Benoit said. "You either love it or you hate it."

And the women, who work at the Fairport Public Library and walk across the Main Street bridge to the shop, like Christa Lilley, one of the regular workers at Ferrante's store. "She has our stuff ready when we walk in," Benoit said. "She spots us on the bridge."

Starbucks' hottest competition here may come from other chains. Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's have expanded their coffee offerings. Tim Hortons, which arrived here in 2002, aggressively promotes its coffee. Those stores feature drive-throughs, something Starbucks is beginning to do.

Starbucks also may expand and improve its food offerings in response to customers' suggestions. "We have heard that they would love our food to be at the level of our coffee," Lenda said. "At times, we have missed the mark."

Though the stores sell the same coffee, decor and ambience varies. Sitting in the new Starbucks at Twelve Corners in Brighton, University of Rochester senior Ben Wilkinson pointed out the distinctive mirrors.

"You can fall in love with your own Starbucks," said Wilkinson, who is from New Paltz, N.Y. "This doesn't feel like home, but it feels like a different version of home."