Starbucks’ closures in some of Boston’s busiest coffee hubs sent shockwaves in the city’s cafe scene, with industry leaders questioning what this means for the future of Boston’s buzzing coffee scene.

Questions like: Where will the many Starbucks customers who no longer have their spot for their daily caffeine fix wind up next? And who would fill the prime real estate left empty by Starbucks — local coffee shops or larger java chains?

“Who knows where things are going?” said George Howell , who started The Coffee Connection in the 1970s. “The entire specialty coffee industry is in turmoil right now.”

Howell, a pioneer in the specialty coffee space who now runs George Howell Coffee, sold The Coffee Connection to Starbucks in the 1990s, giving the java giant the ability to enter into

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