Starbucks....."Our Coffee Shop".... What?
Margot Sanger-Katz’s Monitor piece “Your Latte is Safe, For the Moment” was a cross between an advertisement and schoolgirl crush on Starbucks.
However, her choice of the Non-Fat Caramel Macchiato was an excellent one as it is probably the most healthy beverage (beyond water or juice) offered by Starbucks. At just .8g of fat, .5g of saturated fat and 135 calories it is a nice choice for one interested in staying healthy while still indulging him/herself. The 25 grams of carbohydrates in 12 ounces, is equivalent to some soft drinks and juices, but overall a good solid choice.
It was a bit unfair of Sanger-Katz to reveal her hand and call the local Starbucks, “our coffee shop”, slighting other vendors in town where a connoisseur can get themselves a pretty darn good latte, cappuccino, espresso or just a good cup of coffee, including Panera Bread, Einstein’s and quite a few shops up on Main Street.
Starbucks is closing 600 units nationwide because it is just good business. For the past several years Starbucks has scoured the country for any possible piece of real estate in order to expand. Retrofitting several closed Friendly restaurants and locations of other failed concepts they turned poor real estate into "A" destinations. Their brand popped up from malls to airports.
Like many other QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) companies, the economy over the last 8 years has led to rapid expansion of new concepts touting health and nutrition and sporting everything from designer to ethnic fast food. The growth has been phenomenal due to demand of consumers who have enjoyed discretionary income; now starting to evaporate.
If anything, Starbucks sees the handwriting on the wall and the over saturation of their brand would not fair well in a recession. In a good economy the profitable units can absorb the loss of those losing money; in a soft economy companies would just lose too much money. Starbucks will be expanding overseas as the appetite by consumers for American food brands is insatiable. Once again, this is just good business and to stay healthy in this economy there is little else most of these companies can do.
QSR companies can flourish in this economy as casual restaurants become prohibitively expensive for the average person trying to meet their fuel bills. The key is that if the consumer perceives them as too designer or too premium of a choice, they will struggle. I believe that is the case of Starbucks. People will go out to eat in a poor economy but do not have discretionary income for the frequent extras that they enjoyed in a thriving economy.
I am NOT a coffee drinker; I do not like the taste, much less adding cold milk to a hot beverage. I do love the smell of the roasted beans and the coffee in production and the atmosphere it creates but I just can’t get by the taste. Maybe that disqualifies me to comment on the product but I do have intimate knowledge of the industry and what is going on in the food industry as a whole.
I have never been enamored with Starbucks as a company finding them and the clientele they serve, ostentatious at best. If you paraded two loyal coffee drinkers in front of me, revealing that one frequents Dunkin’ Donuts and the other, Starbucks, I could pick the Starbucks guest out with 99% accuracy.
Coffee drinkers are as finicky as beer drinkers but depending on the coffee shop you frequent, the experience from my perspective is generally one of pretense (Starbucks) versus just plain enjoyment of great product at other outlets. Not everyone who enjoys this brand can be lumped into one group but Starbucks sure is the poster child for stereotyping.
One thing Starbucks could improve upon is their pastry and snack line. We are talking cardboard here!
Enough about Starbucks, though I will leave you with this last thought on “nutrition”.
With municipalities and watchdogs blocking the expansion of fast food restaurants out of some self ingratiating view about curbing obesity, you seldom hear about a Starbucks being stonewalled; in fact they are still viewed as a retailer of choice in most communities.. However, here is a dirty little secret that I found in my research.
Starbucks Coffee Cake (1 piece) Big Mac, Medium Fries
Starbucks Frappuccino=1180 calories 20 ounce soda=1060 calories
I am sure that Sanger-Katz would agree the majority of Starbucks guests probably do not drink that Non-Fat Caramel Macchiato. I doubt that she speaks for everyone when she refers to Starbucks as “Our Coffee Shop”, but it does say something about the mindset of some.
Tell Us.......
Tell us how you really feel Judy.....please don't hold back....come on......tell us!!!! LOL
Coffeee
I adore coffee. Can't get through my morning without at least a couple of mugfuls. Was initially devastated when my doctor told me to cut down on the coffee in order to cut down on the heart palpitations I was experiencing. I settled for half-decaf and so far it's a happy median.
I went into a Starbucks once. That was good for me. I wanted a good ol' fashioned cup of joe, no sugar, touch of cream, but one look at the menu board and I decided I had better things to do then to figure out how to order it.
I won't miss Starbucks. Wouldn't miss Dunkin' Donuts much either, or Honey Dew. I get my morning fix from Mr. Coffee. Don't have to drive anywhere, deal with kids who don't know how to make change, learn how to say "coffee my way" and Mr. Coffee saves me at least $60 a month.
So go ahead and take away "our coffee shop" too...it's not going to break my heart any.
Well Said
Well said Terri. Especially about dealing with kids who are not able to make change.
I laugh out loud when they say: "Your change is one dollar and fifty two cents" or they place you change in your hand and place the receipt on top.
You seldom have anyone handle the transaction properly. "That will be eight dollars and fourty eight cents please....from ten dollars........eight fourty eight, fourty nine, eight fifty and fifty cents makes nine and one dollar makes ten dollars." What is so tough about that. Oh....and I forgot, "Thank You"....you don't hear that much any more from some of the young people in these establishments!
One has to wonder if it is due to the fact that they can not fathom the mental math involved or just a training issue. Having been in the position to train this several times in my career, I can tell you that most just are not able to fathom how to count it back.
Where would we be without credit cards?????????
Thanks for responding Terri!
Take it Away!
I personally think that Starbucks got too big for it's britches! I've had their coffee twice in my life and it wasn't worth the cost. They were definitely over-hyped and over-priced.
I write for Associated Content and was asked to write a closure list for NH and how it would effect residents coffee rituals. Needless to say, I don't think they were too happy when I basically said not a damn thing.
Hear hear!
Long ago I had all but given up on finding a letter or blog post of yours with which I could unreservedly (heck, even reservedly!) agree. But, as I am an unabashed liberal, the optimist in me could not be completely vanquished.
Imagine my delight and pleasure, then, when I came across this gem of a post!
Mr. Bunker, you nailed it nearly perfectly with this one. Much earlier in my life I, too, had been quite fond of the smell of brewing coffee but had no desire (or willingness) to let it past my lips. For the last two decades, however, I begin each day with strong, black coffee with just enough Splenda to take the edge off the bitterness.
My love of coffee is limited in one way: I am not enamored of exotic roasts or contrived flavors. I will pass on (if not recoil in horror at) the "Belgian-lace-mocha-java-raspberry-chocolate-creme-almond-toffee-crunch" abominations, thank you very much. I just want COFFEE-FLAVORED coffee! That's why I go to the last bastion of coffee-flavored coffee: Dunkin' Donuts. I buy a bag of whole beans, put them in an air-tight container, and grind 'em up fresh each morning.
BTW, Bill (now that we are pretty much in agreement on something, somehow the formality of "Mr. Bunker" seems a bit much), I also find your analysis of the Starbucks arc to be spot-on. And you've brought to light some pretty interesting info on the "nutritional" aspects of their offerings.
As they might say in Strine, "Good on ya, Bill, for this fine blog post!"
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Hello Richard,
I often think about you and have not seen any letters attacking me lately in the Monitor. I actually find you a bit fun when you just can't take what I write anymore and lash out. I wish you would comment more on the blog.
In reality though, I wish you would give another side to the political blogs which a write. I would love to go back and forth with you on any topic.
I still seldom enjoy coffee.
Here is a funny story...................I met my wife in 1996 and soon after she took me to meet her parents. We had dinner and being the new 'boyfriend', I was on my best behavior; eating small amounts, not slobering on my shirt and in general out to make a good impression.
When dinner was done, her mom brewed up a fresh pot of coffee and asked if I wanted some. To be polite, I replied "sure"! My (now ) wife looked at me funny and I choked the coffee down. She said; "you don't like coffee" and I was embarrassed. I insisted I did and finished my coffee. Everyone got a good chuckle after I left the room and my wife explained that I 'hated' coffee. At the holiday dinners and at every opportunity when they have us over for a meal, they laugh and say..."how do you want your coffee, Bill". Yes, for 12 years, every chance they get! LOL
For me, give me a hot tea with lemon, any day. During the summer, whether I am traveling or in the morning or for lunch, iced tea with lemon and a sweet & low does the trick and as many refills as are offered will be gladly accepted. A suggestion is to get a Mr. Coffee iced tea maker....$19.99 at Wal-Mart or most local drug stores....perfect fresh brewed iced tea......every time!
At home, we also like the flavored teas Salada Asian Plum White Tea and the Berry Green Tea. As an FYI, anti-oxidant rating of green tea is something that should get everyone on board and it is even greater in White Tea. Being a diet Mountain Dew fanatic, I try to balance and exceed my intake with healthy drinks.
When you think of coffee and look at some of the other beverages out there, you wonder why people drink it at all. I am not sure, Dick, if you are into health but Acai juice is in the stores now and the ORAC anti-oxidant rating is off of the scale; same with Goji juice, pomegranate as well. Acai has protein and yes, sugar but it will give you the same energy as coffee and just might protect your cells.
Starbucks has a great product but it is a lot of hype as well. As soon as a company like Starbucks, builds to 100 units and offers an IPO, they seem to lose their soul. It is all about the product, service, values, mission and principles until investors get their hooks into a company....then it is about pure profit.
Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that and if I were an investor I would risk my hard earned money and expect a maximum return.
I just wonder sometimes, why all of the lofty things that companies do before the IPO, become hollow rhetoric after. You can have it both ways, if there is the will to do so!
Starbucks is big on "culture" but at the end of the day they are no more righteous or enlightened than other companies...it is all smoke and mirrors.
I am glad that we agree on SOMETHING....it is a rare occurance. BTW-Starbucks is closing the Rochester store. My wife and I talked about that and agreed, why would you build a Starbucks in Rochester in the first place??
It reminds me years ago when Long john Silver's built a bunch of stores in Massachusetts, only to learn that fresh seafood was so prevalent in New England that they could not compete; even at their cheaper prices. Within 18-24 months, they were all closed. BTW-They had a far better product in the 1980's...today the food is a heart attack waiting to happen! LOL
Starbucks growth was too rapid...bottom line.
America’s infatuation with any 1180 cal frappuccino only scratches the surface of our sad, collective mindset. As far as the food, I’d rather eat cardboard than many of the things served in such places.
Sadly I am a fan of Panera’s Portobello & Mozzarella sandwich. It contains 650 calories and 24 grams of fat. Darn, shouldn’t have looked that up. Have never set foot in a Starbucks, hopefully never will. The twice a year I imbibe in caffeine these days it’s Dunkin’ Donuts coffee all the way.
Closing only 600? Heck, close them all. We could all get weaned off the garbage. Asta la bye-bye, baby!