Some coffee fans get grim delight in Starbucks woes

By Scorbing
in Real World News

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Grand Master

Scorbing

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Posted

This is bad. :(

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080706/us_nm/usa_coffeeshops_dc

NEW YORK (Reuters) - One coffee drinker's bad news is another coffee drinker's good news, it seems.

Financial woes at Starbucks Corp., which is planning to close 600 underperforming U.S. stores, is evoking glee and little sympathy from aficionados who say they resent the coffee shop giant and favor small independent cafes.

"I'm so happy. I'm so not a Starbucks person," said Melinda Vigliotti, sipping iced coffee at the Irving Farm Coffee House in New York. "I believe in supporting small businesses. Starbucks, bye-bye."

"Amen," chimed in Keith DiLauro, a local caterer. "They went too big, too fast."

Seattle-based Starbucks burst onto the national scene in the 1990s and grew to more than 6,000 locations around the world. But with cups of coffee that can cost several dollars, it faces a slowing economy and slowed consumer spending.

"Starbucks has really created a coffee culture, raising awareness of good coffee, which is good for independents," said Carol Watson, owner of the Milk and Honey coffee shop in Chicago. "But on the other hand, they're on practically every corner, and that makes it tough on the little guy too."

In Birmingham, Alabama, retiree Peggy Bonfield, drinking coffee at the Crestwood Coffee Shop, said: "When a Starbucks closes, it makes room for a local business to start.

"I consider that good news," she said.

The schadenfreude of coffee drinkers drawing satisfaction from another's misfortune is part of the popular culture that enjoys the downfall of companies or celebrities, said Jim Carroll, a Canadian-based trends and innovation expert.

"There are a lot of people out there who take delight in seeing an icon torn down by the masses," he said.

Starbucks fell victim to a rapid change in attitude, fueled by Internet bloggers complaining endlessly about everything from layoffs to its breakfast sandwiches, he said.

"Starbucks was a cool brand, and then all of a sudden it's not a cool brand," he said. "There's this new global consciousness that is out there that can suddenly shift."

CAFE CULTURE

Indeed, said Pye Parson, who hails from Seattle and works at Birmingham's Crestwood, "Once it went corporate, it wasn't Starbucks anymore."

New York Web designer Zachary Thacher, who favors Greenwich Village's cafes, said he avoids Starbucks. "They've commoditized cafe culture, which is why I don't go," he said.

The environmental movement toward buying and appreciating locally grown products has helped neighborhood cafes and hurt the myriad look-a-like Starbucks stores, said Judy Ramberg, a consumer strategist at Iconoculture, a Minneapolis-based trend research company.

The company that began as innovative is now known for consistency and convenience, she said. "To me, that's a huge step down," she said. "You've built your franchise on people who are coming in because they know exactly what they want."

Precisely, said Justin Sergi, explaining why he preferred Lux, a cafe in Phoenix serving lattes with a fern-like pattern teased from steamed milk in ceramic cups, over Starbucks.

"The people that work there are very pleasant, but the stores are devoid of any kind of real charm or personality," he said. "They push a button, and a machine does everything from grinding the beans to brewing the drink."

It's not as though Starbucks doesn't have defenders,

"It's convenient," said Anthony Castro, sitting in a Starbucks near his job at New York's Museum of Modern Art. "I know what to expect."

In Birmingham, Crestwood regular Gary Adkins said he felt Starbucks gave employees good salaries and benefits. But now Starbucks' plans call for cutting up to 12,000 full- and part-time positions.

Not everyone felt strongly. "It's just coffee," said Marc Poulin, a systems administrator at Zibetto Espresso Bar in New York. "If I was an investor, I'd care."

(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor, Andrew Stern and Verna Gates; editing by Todd Eastham)

Grand Master

Kreuger

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I don't understand why people don't like Starbucks. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but they make some pretty good drinks there, even if they are a little expensive.
I'm sorry but coffee isn't worth 5 dollars, no matter what's in it. And that's another problem, you're not buying coffee anyway you're buying flavoured crap like mocha chinos, lattes and the like. If Tim Hortons started charging any more than the do now for a coffee, I would stop buying it there too.
Grand Master

mattmatik

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Of all the people who said they don't go to Starbucks, not one of them said it was because they don't like the coffee or that they think other places can do the coffee better.

Exactly. People say they hate Starbucks for the most non-consequential reasons. "There's one on every corner", "There's no small cafe feel", "It's too corporate".

Whatever. Not everybody has to like everything. I don't understand the current trend of people hating things they have no reason hating. Using the word hate is so strong but it's lost all of its meaning. If you want to go to the little coffee shop on the other corner, do it. Why do we need to hear your reasons for doing so? Do you care why someone else goes to Starbucks? Of course not. Personally, I enjoy Starbucks every now and then but I am not a hot coffee drinker. They make excellent blended lemonades and frappuccinos though.

And something I found hilarious in the article: they mention that Starbucks has no personality, all the workers do is push a button and everything is done. Excuse me? Is it really different somewhere else? At that coffee cafe next door do they grow their own beans, grind them by hand, and somehow brew it on their own? I don't think so. It's the same process in a scaled down environment. People make me laugh sometimes.

Grand Master

Ji@nBing

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I much prefer the small places over Starbucks. The place I go to, the owner is a member of the coffee guild. He buys and then roasts his beans himself. It's soooo much better than Starbucks. Starbucks has become more of a coffee flavored drink than real coffee these days. I'll only go there if I really need some caffeine and there is nothing else around.

Rising Star

SakuraKira

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How cans someone be happy that people are losing their jobs? :wacko: :huh:

+1

I was thinking the exact same thing.

I can understand that they would see it as a victory for their local small caf?, but they could be a little more tactful about it. 12thousand> people are going to lose jobs, though I appreciate Starbucks efforts to try and place some of them in other locations, as I read in another article.

Grand Master

rajputwarrior

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I'm sorry but coffee isn't worth 5 dollars, no matter what's in it. And that's another problem, you're not buying coffee anyway you're buying flavoured crap like mocha chinos, lattes and the like. If Tim Hortons started charging any more than the do now for a coffee, I would stop buying it there too.

timmy hoes makes good coffee

Mentor

team_NOOB

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+1

I was thinking the exact same thing.

I can understand that they would see it as a victory for their local small caf?, but they could be a little more tactful about it. 12thousand> people are going to lose jobs, though I appreciate Starbucks efforts to try and place some of them in other locations, as I read in another article.

They work in a bloody cafe! get over it! im sure they will be able to find another job.. and if they don't they can take it as a wake up call to go study or find a better job..

Grand Master

nX07

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I don't see how you can get angry at a company because they sell $5 coffee. No one forces you to buy their product, and if people pay that premium then there is something that they've done right. It?s as simple as that.

In the business of coffee, you can choose if you want to go to Starbucks, and if you don't want to go there you have cheaper alternatives. I can point out much more extreme costs within the hospitality that surpasses the Starbucks costs; I walked into KFC this past Friday to get a 15 pc. Chicken bucket and a regular serving of fries, all for the low price of $44.99 + tax (50.83 with tax); I decided not to buy it and walk out, but I didn't have hate towards the company. I love capitalism and if people still buy it then that?s a-ok with me!

Until people protest, or until people stop buying it at these prices, they will continue to stay and go higher, that?s what successful business is all about ? pinching at the market more and more until you feel the pain.

P.S. in regards to Tim-Hortons, perhaps the people here may not go if they raised their prices; but I can almost say with absolute-certainty that the people I see who line up in a drive-thru for 20+ minutes every day for their cup of brew would still pay if the price increases; hell they probably burn near 60 cents to a dollar of gas waiting in that line.

Grand Master

MR_Candyman

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Why be happy they're closing stores just because you prefer to go someplace else? They are really NOT affecting the number of independant coffee shops around, in fact I have seen an increase in every city I commonly visit since the Starbucks trend. Either oyu like their coffee and you will go there, or you will go some place else, it's not like Starbucks is Walmart or anything.

Grand Master

Mr. Gibs

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I love how people complain about starbucks being overpriced...nobody is forcing you to buy starbucks, so if you find it expensive don't buy it? Oh wait that answer was too logical to understand.

Why not go complain about ferraris being too expensive, lamborghinis being too expensive, etc..

Get over it.

Mentor

Dev Null Zen

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They work in a bloody cafe! get over it! im sure they will be able to find another job.. and if they don't they can take it as a wake up call to go study or find a better job..

Starbucks is very renowned for the benefits package they provided for all of their employees, including part timers. For many people, this is a whole lot more than just finding another job. Especially since good jobs are incredibly hard to find with the economy in the loo.

Grand Master

cork1958

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I love how people complain about starbucks being overpriced...nobody is forcing you to buy starbucks, so if you find it expensive don't buy it? Oh wait that answer was too logical to understand.

Why not go complain about ferraris being too expensive, lamborghinis being too expensive, etc..

Get over it.

Never been in a Starbucks store and NEVER will either, as I am intelligent enough to know there is NO coffee in the world, worth what a lousy 12oz cup of this stuff costs, and I drink coffee all day. Even if there was a coffee that good it WAS worth that much, I am still intelligent enough to know what a waste of hard earned money that is!! I definitely am not glad to hear of anybody losing their jobs, especially if there are enough brain dead people around to support them!!

Will agree with person who said McDonalds coffee is pretty good and under rated.

BTW,

"complain about ferraris being too expensive, lamborghinis being too expensive, etc.."

They are!!

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