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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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 Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:23 am Post subject: Starbucks in temporary US closure |
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Starbucks in temporary US closure
By Richard Lister
BBC News, Washington
Starbucks serves 50m American customers a week
Starbucks coffee chain is to shut all of its US branches for three-and-a-half hours for staff training, in a blow to millions of Americans' daily routines.
The move has triggered a flurry of competition from rival coffee firms and comes after Starbucks' share value fell by half in the past year.
Rival coffee shops across the US immediately launched plans to lure Starbucks customers during the unprecedented closure period; offering reduced rate and even free coffee.
Alternatively, it is still possible just to go home and make a cup of instant.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7266065.stm |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 6:13 am Post subject: Re: Starbucks in temporary US closure |
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| Adventurer wrote: |
| Starbucks in temporary US closure |
If you think about it, how much free advertising is this generating for Starbucks? Starbucks, along with Google, is one of those brands that does very little advertising but has very, very high recognition.
On the flip side, there is definitely a danger of letting you customers find out what the guy across the street offers. People are creatures of habit but they can quickly change if they find something better or different. I remember I used to work at a Petrocanda gas station. A 7/11 opened across from us with gas pumps. Oddly our sales didn't halve. They didn't even go down that much. Maybe a 20% drop. Why? Well, people are creatures of habit.
But then our underground tank sprang a leak. We had to close for a month to get the tank replaced. Our sales never recovered. Why? People had no choice but to break their habit. They discovered pumping 25 liters or more at 7/11 got them a free lottery ticket. Ho! 7/11 offered a chance to be rich for a simple fill up.
If I was the guy across the street, I'd put my prettiest, friendliest female staff on duty that day. |
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Czarjorge
Joined: 01 May 2007
Location: I now have the same moustache, and it is glorious.
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 7:37 am Post subject: |
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| The flipside of this MM2 might be that people realize that the Bucks really is that much better than most of their competitors. I hate Starbucks in principal, but that is really good coffee. |
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blaseblasphemener
Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Location: There's a voice, keeps on calling me, down the road, that's where I'll always be
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 7:51 am Post subject: |
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| Why don't they just do the training when the stores close, a la overtime? Or are Starbucks open 24 hours? |
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wannago
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 8:02 am Post subject: |
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| Czarjorge wrote: |
| The flipside of this MM2 might be that people realize that the Bucks really is that much better than most of their competitors. I hate Starbucks in principal, but that is really good coffee. |
Alright, I'll bite. Why do you hate Starbucks in principal? |
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Tony_Balony
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 8:18 am Post subject: |
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| I was hoping they'd redo the cup size names into SMALL MEDIUM AND LARGE or perhaps B C and D cups. |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 8:20 am Post subject: |
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| wannago wrote: |
| Czarjorge wrote: |
| The flipside of this MM2 might be that people realize that the Bucks really is that much better than most of their competitors. I hate Starbucks in principal, but that is really good coffee. |
Alright, I'll bite. Why do you hate Starbucks in principal? |
He likes Starbucks in a teacher, but hates it in a principal ... |
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stillnotking
Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Location: Oregon, USA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 9:23 am Post subject: |
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Well, I went to Starbucks this morning and the coffee was really a lot better! Just kidding, no it wasn't.
I actually give Starbucks my (occasional) business because I like their policies. They treat their employees very well and they are much more ecologically conscious than the average mom & pop coffee joint. I live in Portland, so good coffee is easy to find and Starbucks doesn't stand out that way, but they're a good company and I like to support that. |
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jkelly80
Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Location: you boys like mexico?
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 9:32 am Post subject: |
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Here's an article about how Starbucks actually helps M+P coffee shops.
http://www.slate.com/id/2180301
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Soon after declining Starbucks's buyout offer, Hyman received the expected news that the company was opening up next to one of his stores. But instead of panicking, he decided to call his friend Jim Stewart, founder of the Seattle's Best Coffee chain, to find out what really happens when a Starbucks opens nearby. "You're going to love it," Stewart reported. "They'll do all of your marketing for you, and your sales will soar." The prediction came true: Each new Starbucks store created a local buzz, drawing new converts to the latte-drinking fold.
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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| jkelly80 wrote: |
Here's an article about how Starbucks actually helps M+P coffee shops.
http://www.slate.com/id/2180301
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Soon after declining Starbucks's buyout offer, Hyman received the expected news that the company was opening up next to one of his stores. But instead of panicking, he decided to call his friend Jim Stewart, founder of the Seattle's Best Coffee chain, to find out what really happens when a Starbucks opens nearby. "You're going to love it," Stewart reported. "They'll do all of your marketing for you, and your sales will soar." The prediction came true: Each new Starbucks store created a local buzz, drawing new converts to the latte-drinking fold.
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Exactly. Think of the millions of dollars Colombian coffee growers spent trying to educate North Americans that they were drinking dirt and there were better cups of coffee to be had. Remember the Juan Valdez campaign?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Valdez
Starbucks has done a large part lately. Anyone who has been in Korea for a while understands this. Before Starbucks you were mostly paying $5 for an instant coffee in a dive. Coffee was watery. The whole sector has improved tremendously.
And I have to repeat above, they did it without much advertising. Think of the millions Coke spends maintaining an image or a beer company. It's beyond me that Starbucks can possibly have achieved high name recognition with very, very little advertising unless they offer a product many people actually like and prefer.
I got to Starbucks every day. I don't go to Holly's Coffee every day. I don't go to Dunkin Donuts every day. I do it because I really do like the total product Starbucks offers. I like the coffee, the stores, the service, and the bathrooms. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Czarjorge wrote: |
| The flipside of this MM2 might be that people realize that the Bucks really is that much better than most of their competitors. I hate Starbucks in principal, but that is really good coffee. |
In Seattle, the major competitors were Seattle's Best (but that's starbucks now) and Tulleys. Tulleys was actually nicer than Starbucks. More comfy seats. A fire place. Board games. Tullys was in Seoul and Japan for a while. I think they sold out to Coffee Bean. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Czarjorge wrote: |
| The flipside of this MM2 might be that people realize that the Bucks really is that much better than most of their competitors. I hate Starbucks in principal, but that is really good coffee. |
maybe in the midwest that's the case, but as MM2 noted, Starbucks is inferior to other coffee in some parts of the country. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 4:34 pm Post subject: Re: Starbucks in temporary US closure |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| On the flip side, there is definitely a danger of letting you customers find out what the guy across the street offers. |
Didn't you hear? The outfit across the street from Starbucks is Starbucks! |
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Czarjorge
Joined: 01 May 2007
Location: I now have the same moustache, and it is glorious.
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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The "in principal" part is my general anti-corporate stance. Corporate "citizens" have all the rights and none of the responsibilities the rest of US citizens have. I realize this is an oversimplification of the situation, but it is foundationally true. The only responsibility of public corporations is the profit motive, and that is a problem.
As corporations go Starbucks really isn't that bad. I don't know if anything has changed in the last year but I had a friend that worked for the Bucks. She was reasonably happy, as happy as anyone working retail, with her job. She was part-time and received both healthcare and stock. At the same time I was store manager for a large Blockbuster and my benefits cost me more than hers, and she was just a 'bean monkey.' Had I not decided to bum around and write for awhile before going to Korea I might have been recruited by Starbucks. One of the most interesting things they are doing is shifting away from the cookie cutter model of franchising/expansion. Rather than make every store the same, something that Blockbuster's awful British CEO has implemented for all corporate locations, Starbucks is actively allowing their store managers to 'individualize' their locations, a plus for both employees and consumers.
And for the midwest Starbucks is pretty good. In both Chicago and Omaha the best coffee I found was Starbucks. Maybe in coffee-centric towns there are better options. |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 8:59 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="mindmetoo"]
| jkelly80 wrote: |
Here's an article about how Starbucks actually helps M+P coffee shops.
http://www.slate.com/id/2180301
| Quote: |
Soon after declining Starbucks's buyout offer, Hyman received the expected news that the company was opening up next to one of his stores. But instead of panicking, he decided to call his friend Jim Stewart, founder of the Seattle's Best Coffee chain, to find out what really happens when a Starbucks opens nearby. "You're going to love it," Stewart reported. "They'll do all of your marketing for you, and your sales will soar." The prediction came true: Each new Starbucks store created a local buzz, drawing new converts to the latte-drinking fold.
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Exactly. Think of the millions of dollars Colombian coffee growers spent trying to educate North Americans that they were drinking dirt and there were better cups of coffee to be had. Remember the Juan Valdez campaign?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Valdez
I do not necessarily mind Starbucks. I like what they offer, though it seems kind of expensive. Coffee often costs almost as much as a meal.
I think it's excessive, but that is another story. I suppose if I had a coffee shop, I would have to charge that much as well.
As far as Colombian coffee, maybe that was encouraged because some people want Colombians to export more coffee beans and less cocaine. I am not sure, really. There is no major difference between Brazilian and Colombian beans, as far as I know. Anyway, know? For me, I like Ethiopan and Yemenite beans which basically are the originally Arabica type beans... |
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