My neighborhood in Pinheiros used to have corner bakeries everywhere. Padarias. You didn't go far. You just walked downstairs, pointed at what you wanted, and paid very little.
I've lived here for 13 years. Somewhere around 2018, I started noticing: the padarias were disappearing. They were replaced by Oxxos, the convenience store chain. And then, in the same neighborhood, boutique boulangeries started appearing. Croissants. Brioche. Sourdough. Beautiful stuff.
A pão na chapa used to cost around R$10. Now my options are a croissant set at R$40 or a convenience store sandwich.
Nobody asked me if I wanted an upgrade.
The neighborhood got "better"
More European. More aspirational. Studio apartments, 25m², R$4,500 a month. The kind of place that looks great in a listing.
But I just wanted a cheap, warm snack from the place downstairs.
Product teams do this too
The product got "better." Cleaner. More modern. Buttons hidden. Actions buried. Redesigned for the portfolio. Optimized for the demo.
And the team quietly lost the people who were actually there.
Upgrading for aspiration is easy. Staying honest about who you're actually serving is harder.