I visited the epicenter of Starbucks this weekend. It’s a nice little store that adheres to the Pike Place Market historic district guidelines. The logo on the exterior is the original brown, nippled mermaid. Inside, it’s not that large and theres a converted tackle supply shop feel to the place. The ceilings are made of painted white wood slats with lots of low white lights hanging. Otherwise, the coffee tasted exactly the same. Yes, no matter which corner in America you visit, whether the first store or the last, you can be assured of enjoying a consistent, smooth, burnt flavor.
starbucks
Starbucks Going National With Via Instant Coffee
By 9.29.09
After 20 years of development work, and six months of test-marketing in Chicago and Seattle, Starbucks is taking its Via instant coffee national today. Will coffee snobs be willing to pay $1 a serving for a drink that Consumer Reports recently called “good, not great?”
AT&T To Offer Free Wi-Fi Hotspot Access To Windows Mobile Users
By 9.2.09
If you have a WinMo smartphone, you’re in luck. (Wow, I never thought I’d be typing that.) Starting September 14th, AT&T will open up its approximately 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to Windows Mobile customers with “qualifying plans.” According to AT&T, that should mean most WinMo customers as “most [already] have a qualifying data plan.”
Mickey D's Profits Rise 4.3% Thanks To "Fancier" Items
By 8.10.09
McDonald’s sales rose 4.3% on the tongues of customers clamoring for a taste of the good life for cheap. McCafe coffees, which offer a proxy of brews found in places like Starbucks, and Angus burgers drove sales. [Bloomberg] (Photo: andinarvaez)
Starbucks Barista Offers Advice To CEO Howard Schultz
By 8.7.09
Sun Min Kimes, a behind-the-counter barista at a Starbucks in Ashburn, Virginia has written a guest post on the Fortune magazine blog “Postcards” that offers advice for the CEO of her company, Howard Schultz. Starbucks has been going through some lean times lately, and are trying everything from removing their branding from their coffee shops to… well… making their employees put a Mr. Potato Head toy together over and over again.
Meet The First Stealth Starbucks: Seattle's 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea
By 8.6.09
A few weeks ago, we shared a story about Starbucks opening new stores that are not branded “Starbucks.” The idea is to recreate the flavor and feel of the independent coffeehouses your neighborhood used to have before Starbucks came along. Shortly after that, the first non-Starbucks Starbucks, 15th Avenue E Coffee and Tea in Seattle, opened for business. What’s it like?
Slate Taste Tests Chain-Restaurant Coffee
By 8.5.09
A few coffee snobs at Slate have done a blind taste test of regular drip and cappuccino coffees at Starbucks, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts. Results? Dunkin’ Donuts had the best regular drip; McDonald’s, the best cappuccino.
By 7.21.09
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Today until 10 am 10:30 am, Starbucks is giving away free pastries with the purchase of any beverage. You have to present this “invitation” to receive the food. Sorry Moneycat, oatmeal isn’t included. (Thanks to
Seattle Coffee Shop Owner Says Starbucks Ripped Off Her Look
By 7.20.09
Starbucks, after finally coming to terms with the fact that it is soul-crushingly bland, has been trying to reinvent itself as… well, not Starbucks. They’re stripping the branding from a few of their stores and renaming them after the communities that they’re in –– but one local coffee shop owner says they’ve gone too far to try to blend in.
The Only Thing Left For Starbucks? To Just Stop Being Starbucks
By 7.16.09
Starbucks just keeps trying to reinvent itself — and it seems that they’ve tried everything. The only thing left to do is just to stop being Starbucks. So that’s what they’re doing.
Recall Roundup – Strollers, Hair Dryers, And Zombie Coffee Grinders
By 6.17.09
Hazardous hair dryers, unstoppable strollers, zombie coffee grinders, and breakable cribs are this week’s stars of the Recall Roundup. Watch out!
Starbucks Continues To Try To Sell Food That Doesn't Suck
By 6.3.09
Calling their food the “Achilles’ heel of the company” Starbucks has announced that they are reworking 90% of their baked goods to remove high fructose corn syrup and/or artificial flavors and dyes, says Reuters.
By 6.2.09
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The Fourth District Court of Appeal in California reversed the $100 million award in a class action suit filed on behalf of current and former Starbucks baristas. The accusation? Starbucks illegally had shift supervisors share in tip jar proceeds instead of paying them a higher hourly wage. The appeals court ruled that shift supervisors are also hourly employees and not management, and are as entitled to tips as baristas. [Reuters]
Economy Thwarts Man's Goal Of Visiting Every Starbucks On Planet
By 5.30.09
I was impressed when I heard that someone managed to visit every Starbucks store in Manhattan in one day. There were 171 at the time. Then I learned about Winter, who takes Starbucks-visiting to a whole new level, aiming to visit every Starbucks in the world (9,000 to date.) Not in a single day, or even in a single year, but still an ambitious goal that attracts some media attention.
CVS Beverage Prices: Only Off By $997 Or So
By 5.14.09
A few weeks apart, in different stores, readers Spencer and Sean spotted the same error on CVS shelf tags. Printing error? Zoned-out employees? Maybe our assumptions are all wrong, and it’s an innovative new pricing strategy.
