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How Starbucks Lost Me (Although Not For Good)
By Ken Montville
I'll start by saying that I used to love Starbucks. I went there, if not every day, then several times a week. Sometimes I'd order just regular coffee, other times some of their more exotic lattes or Frappucinos or whatever. Hey, I was even a stockholder near the beginning and I was lovin' it when the stock went up and split and went up and split. Life was good. All Good Things Come To An End After awhile, though, Starbucks just became another place to buy expensive coffee. The stores were no longer "coffee shops" where you could hang out with your friends or meet people for some coffee before going someplace else. No. They put in drive-thrus, they made the "shops" smaller and less inviting to hang out in, the ones that were designed well had every college student and their brother hanging out with laptops open surfing the Web or whatever. Suddenly, there was no place to sit and just chill. Then they started growing too big. Starbucks sprung up everywhere only to close down three months later. There would be a full blown Starbucks store in a shopping center and a "little Starbucks" in a grocery store two doors down. What were they thinking? Who wants to hang out and a faux coffee shop in a store I came to in order to buy groceries? Maybe They'll Turn Around There's a chance that someone in Seattle will wake up and, er, smell the coffee but I'm not holding my breath. They moved away from their core mission years ago. They started selling music, then McMuffin type food and all the knick knacks on the shelves. It'd be nice if they remembered why people were attracted to Starbucks in the first place. It had nothing to do with coffee, as such, it was the experience. Now, with the experience gone it doesn't surprise me that Mickey D's and Dunkin' are crowding them out. I still go there from time to time. I get a hankerin' for a cinnamon dolce latte and that lemon pound cake. Depending on the time of day, I may actually sit down and relax. But it sure ain't like it used to be. |
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Sounds familiar, when something quaint and special gets big, something is always lost in the translation.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Amen to that!
I blame the stock market. If a company makes $100 million in a year, it is a great company. Everybody loves it. If it makes $100 million the next year, it is a zero-growth company and people start dumping the stock. If it makes $100 million the third year, the CEO has to resign. Consequently companies listed on the stock market have to relentlessly pursue growth and change, even if they are profitable and what they are doing works.
 | | nick Jan 9, 2010 23:36 | |
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
I'm not sure I agree totally with the idea that it's the stock market. I think Starbucks original concept as a "third place" - a kind of place to hang out that was not home or work - has been lost. Now, it's more about selling the product in smaller stores and getting people out the door.
Life is good and everything has a cycle. It's unfortunate that sometimes, in the growth part of the cycle,things happen too fast and we get overweight. Let's hope that they adjust and get back in line.
Keep up the good work.
Frederick
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
I'm hoping that the recent downturn has caught their attention. When everyone has a ton of money, they don't mind buying coffee that's more expensive. In today's world, you have to provide some value or some experience that will justify the extra cost or people will drive the extra block to a McCafe (McDonald's) or Dunkin' Donuts.
Coffee at MY house is what I prefer Ken. I read somewhere, that US Troops sent a request to Starbucks asking for some of their 'special brew' to be sent to them in Afghanistan. The reply they received floored them. It read, in part: "We, as a Company, do not support the war, and therefore cannot comply with your request." Earmark that at the stupidest(?) reply EVER! Happy trails ...
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
I hadn't heard that about Starbucks. It's amazing. You can be opposed to the war and still support our troops.
Re: Starbucks & the war effort - it's not true. Starbucks knifed
When you are lost there is only one thing to do. Go to Mapquest to find Starbuck,WA In case you were wondering there are no coffee shops at all in Starbuck, WA but that's not surprising with a population of 130 people.
You all need to listen to the frog! Nick is absolutely right, it is definitely to do with the stock market. A company floats, everything changes. It goes from cosy to cut-throat very quickly once you're in the market. Fact. I've seen it happen first-hand in at least two companies that I've worked for. Sad but true, guys.
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