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Has Starbucks lost its "soul"?
Feb. 26th, 2007 02:32 pmReally now? This is in from Reuters:
My reply...
Starbucks had a soul? Now that is something that even the most caffeine-addled zombie would have a distinctively hard time even figuring out.
I knew Starbucks had no soul to begin with as property owners enticed by the big bucks turn over their property to Starbucks. The result of such transactions was the demise of our beloved, local and real neighborhood coffee houses. Starbucks was trying to create realistic stores instead of being a real coffee house. It was obvious, especially to their target demographic -- the young urban professional attempting to align himself with anything looking ritzy, corporate, and Euro-centric that boasts an inflated price tag. You know, “nouveau riche”
The soullessness of Starbucks became more evident as more of their stores populated everywhere with the ubiquity of McDonald’s. I know this was mentioned many times in this forum alone, but ponder this: One can walk in downtown Portland, Oregon and never walk any more than a block away in any direction from a Starbucks. Lincoln Park in Chicago is now tragically in the same state. New York City is already a forgone conclusion.
Starbucks obviously lost its soul when instead of sticking to their roots, they further their Wal-Mart strategy by buying out their competitors: Torrefazione, Seattle’s Best, and now Coffee People. This is similar to the hypothetical situation of Mickey D’s buying out Burger King, Hardees and Jack-in-the-Box. Congratulations, you now have a near-monopoly in some places. So now I wake up with people equating coffee with Starbucks. I walk outside and see a Starbucks down the street from another Starbucks.
I remember one time in my former neighborhood; there was a Starbucks under construction (two blocks away from another active store). A woman, oblivious to the construction workers, paint and disassembled array of wood and concrete, futilely yanks on the door. Frustrated by this, the woman yells at the two men inside consulting their blueprints, demanding service. All she cared about was the green sign with a cropped, now-breastless female deity offering coffee. No doubt this is proof that a company that has lost its soul creates a customer with similar values.
"Grosse Isle" by Kate Purcell from Shadows Of You
Automatic espresso machines and streamlined store designs are symptoms of the furious growth to 13,000 stores at Starbucks Corp. - and, it seems, the loss of some cafe magic. Or so considers Chairman Howard Schultz in a memo to executives posted on starbucksgossip.com last week.(http://tinyurl.com/yqx3oz)
The company has confirmed the authenticity of the memo, Nichola Groom reports, with some suggestion from a spokeswoman that it’s not being viewed as idle musings internally.
Schultz writes that the streamlined stores “no longer have the soul of the past and reflect a chain of stores vs. the warm feeling of a neighborhood store… In fact, I am not sure people today even know we are roasting coffee.”
What do you think? Has Starbucks lost its ’soul’?
My reply...
Starbucks had a soul? Now that is something that even the most caffeine-addled zombie would have a distinctively hard time even figuring out.
I knew Starbucks had no soul to begin with as property owners enticed by the big bucks turn over their property to Starbucks. The result of such transactions was the demise of our beloved, local and real neighborhood coffee houses. Starbucks was trying to create realistic stores instead of being a real coffee house. It was obvious, especially to their target demographic -- the young urban professional attempting to align himself with anything looking ritzy, corporate, and Euro-centric that boasts an inflated price tag. You know, “nouveau riche”
The soullessness of Starbucks became more evident as more of their stores populated everywhere with the ubiquity of McDonald’s. I know this was mentioned many times in this forum alone, but ponder this: One can walk in downtown Portland, Oregon and never walk any more than a block away in any direction from a Starbucks. Lincoln Park in Chicago is now tragically in the same state. New York City is already a forgone conclusion.
Starbucks obviously lost its soul when instead of sticking to their roots, they further their Wal-Mart strategy by buying out their competitors: Torrefazione, Seattle’s Best, and now Coffee People. This is similar to the hypothetical situation of Mickey D’s buying out Burger King, Hardees and Jack-in-the-Box. Congratulations, you now have a near-monopoly in some places. So now I wake up with people equating coffee with Starbucks. I walk outside and see a Starbucks down the street from another Starbucks.
I remember one time in my former neighborhood; there was a Starbucks under construction (two blocks away from another active store). A woman, oblivious to the construction workers, paint and disassembled array of wood and concrete, futilely yanks on the door. Frustrated by this, the woman yells at the two men inside consulting their blueprints, demanding service. All she cared about was the green sign with a cropped, now-breastless female deity offering coffee. No doubt this is proof that a company that has lost its soul creates a customer with similar values.
"Grosse Isle" by Kate Purcell from Shadows Of You
