A lot of people tend to get " anti-anything" that is successful, but that is ok they are entitled. I tend to be a fan of Starbucks, once in a while you get a burnt coffee but not that often. I like the menu of drinks and if you are in the mood for a decent pastry they tend to carry some really good stuff.
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Bye Bye Starbucks
- Thread starter scotty96LSC
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I personally am very much against brands like starbucks and mcdonalds, but for me it's more about the mass production of society. Doesn't it seem a little sad that the large majority of coffee shops are mass produced, they all look exactly the same, sell the same products? Wouldn't it be nicer if individuals owned and designed these stores and their product selection themselves?
This is very true... but on the balance side, much of America had little or no access to good independent coffee shops until the big chains like Starbucks and Caribou and Seattle's Best and so on created a national coffee culture. Not everyone lives in a big city, and if I went to little towns of 25,000 or 50,000 twenty years ago (and well, I lived in one from fourth grade to high school), I would not have found a lot of options to get my skim no-whip raspberry mocha....
I've heard coffee called 'The Black Gold." You just may see smaller, mom-pop type shops open that serve coffee and things that go with it, offer free wireless, and have meeting areas to socialize. If these shops can build a niche in the local community, almost Cheers-like, this may be a profitable opportunity.
I don't know about others people. I've been twice to a Starbucks. Once, I aked for an iced-something coffee, it was very bad but, fair enough, I drank it much later, so I couldn't judge. Yesterday, my gf and I went to another Starbucks. I asked for a hot chocolate, which was meh. She asked for an expresso. Worst expresso ever. Much worse than any expresso you could get in the worst road motel in the most remote part of Spain. Infamous is the word (and I'm not a coffee connaisseur, I don't mind drinking instant coffee, or bad coffee well done). Overtoasted re-heated bad grounded-too-much-time-before-serving coffee
Needless to say, we both took a sip, and left it there. No wonder why americans tend to prefer huge glasses of coffee...
Want a good, cheap expresso? Here
Not really, quality always sells,I usually buy beans, and a coffee. $4.00 price is for frappes,double Latte's and speciality drinks. I grind fresh at home before I brew, usually Pikes Place, it's the blend that started it all.
Any of their fresh baked goods are to die for. Once or twice a week works for me. My Starbucks,(the closest) is 22 miles away in Brooksville Fl, on Rt 50
It's a survivor!
I don't have hatred for Starbucks, but I don't happen to like their coffee very much. It's often burnt and not very flavorful compared to Peet's or especially Bluebottle.
I'm not "anti" things because of their success, but I do happen to think Starbucks makes horrible coffee. Maybe you should swing by SF and try some Bluebottle. I guarantee you won't want to go back to a Starbucks again.
There are nine of them closing within the area I live/commute to for work (Naples/Fort Myers area). Oddly enough, some of the ones I thought would close aren't closing, and some of the ones I thought were fairly busy stores are closing.
Now might be a good time to buy some of their stock.
Might have to give them a look.
You call 25,000 little?
Ha, that was considered a big town where I come from.
Try 2,000 or under as being a small or "little" town. Ha ha!
Back to the topic at hand, It seems that Starbucks deployed to the larger cities, and then over-saturated the market. In some places, there are Starbucks in very close proximity to each other to include being across the street in some cases.
I am sure that it will balance out in the future. Once in a while even a McDonald's closes. Rarely, but once in a while you'll see it happen. My bet is that Starbucks will recover.
We just got our first Starbucks here in town. It was placed on a rotary between three Dunkin Donuts and a Honey Dew. The town has so far prevented Starbucks from putting a drive thru in AND they are between a major on and off point for traffic making their chances of success slim. Hopefully they will do alright.
Little towns, yes. I consider 250 to be a village. And that's being generous.
(Seriously, at 25,000, whether or not you'd have a Starbucks was in doubt, I guess, in my mind, whereas certainly if you live in a village of 500 people, you are pretty unlikely to have a Starbucks, an Express, an H&M, or anything else that feeds my commercialism. For a moment, I had an image of a gigantic lazy susan spinning around and people trying to time stepping onto it just right so they didn't end up at Dunkin Donuts.
I actually have hardly ever been to a Starbucks drivethrough, although I've seen some. Are they fairly common in rural and suburban Starbucks now? Gainesville was rural but maybe only one of the Starbucks, which was way over by the mall, had drive through, and I'm only pretty sure they did, because I never used it....
Now if Moe's had drive through, I would gain a lot of weight.
And here I sit in the San Antonio airport having a Fourbucks coffee and watching all the other folks drinking theirs.
Hey, I come from a small town of a 100.Little towns, yes. I consider 250 to be a village. And that's being generous.
We had a post office, a few small businesses, and of course a grain elevator.
We had a total of 10 city lights, of which the electric fee was paid by donations to our postmaster.
So there!
But I was yanking your chain with my 25,000 comment. I completely understand from a business perspective. I think in the midwest, around 12,000 to 15,000 you start seeing the chain stores (McDonalds, Arbys, Burger King, Walmart, Sonic, Pizza Hut, etc.) plus some other localized ones like Godfather's and such. Of course the surrounding farm population goes into town for most things which supporting the town businesses with their patronage.
For a moment, I had an image of a gigantic lazy susan spinning around and people trying to time stepping onto it just right so they didn't end up at Dunkin Donuts.
I actually have hardly ever been to a Starbucks drivethrough, although I've seen some. Are they fairly common in rural and suburban Starbucks now? Gainesville was rural but maybe only one of the Starbucks, which was way over by the mall, had drive through, and I'm only pretty sure they did, because I never used it....
Now if Moe's had drive through, I would gain a lot of weight.
I got a kick out of the lazy susan analogy! I also attached a diagram, busy day at work! The biggest issue is that people coming onto the rotary don't yield before entering, despite the large YIELD sign that sits on the corner. Also, the traffic in front of Starbucks is mostly attempting to go to the highway (tourist) making it the most travelled section of the rotary. Personally I dislike coffee but I do enjoy Starbucks atmosphere. It is also a nice place to go as you can watch all the stupid people (Starbucks is up on a hill) who 1. never yield before entering the rotary and get pissed off (for me, coming from the opposite, right of way direction, I have found that the best solution when approaching that area is to floor it
) and 2. the occasional donkey door that drives the rotary backwards... gotta love tourists.As for Starbuck's drive up windows, yes, they are well used but personally I prefer to go into Starbucks vs. other places such as Dunkin, I prefer to say outside, no offense to the people who go there
Attachments
As for Starbuck's drive up windows, yes, they are well used but personally I prefer to go into Starbucks vs. other places such as Dunkin, I prefer to say outside, no offense to the people who go there
I know exactly what you mean! There are some restaurants that I crave occasionally but prefer to be inside for as little (zero if possible) time as can be. Starbucks is usually nice for going inside.
And then sometimes, I've just been running, and I want take-out but I don't feel like showering.
Then drive thrus are very ... ahem.... mutually beneficial. Too bad Panera seems to never have one. P.S. Nice diagram!
I wouldn't be too sure about that.
Starbucks UK has long been a basket case in terms of it's management (that's why it's busy trying to poach staff from other, better run, chains
) and only made a profit in it's last set of accounts:£7.4m from more than 500 stores (accounts last filed in 2006) is not a good return, and it's the first year out of 10 in the UK that it actually made a profit.
A couple of mates of mine work for them and regularly moan about how poor the controls are.
The change to automatic espresso machines won't have helped either - they don't help in producing a decent cup.
Over roasted coffee, poorly trained staff (in terms of making a decent cup) and woeful management do not make for a healthy company.
They're closing 600 in the US, but opening 5 stores a day in china... significant international growth.....
^^^ China is the next United States...
They are closing a few by me - but they are all within a few blocks of older ones.
Why they opened them to begin with is beyond me...
They are closing a few by me - but they are all within a few blocks of older ones.
Why they opened them to begin with is beyond me...
That's quite some growth there.
It will be interesting to see how long it continues.
I think this is good. I like Starbucks pretty well and go there sometimes, but I think it's better to have more local coffee shops. It adds real culture to an area.
You certainly make a reasonable point and from a " variety is the spice of life" standpoint I agree, but market forces do not like those sorts of things and the majority folks like chains because they know exactly what to expect whether you are in Belfast or Brooklyn. Its becoming increasingly harder to make a go of it as a small business in most places, because of market forces. There will always be small business though.