Letters to the Editor
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About the food, health care and coffee beans
I live in the UK where Starbucks has sandwiches, paninis, fruit and yoghurt in addition to the muffins and pastry. The sandwiches are very good, as is most of the food they offer. The muffins are ok; a bit too cakey for me. They seem to pay close attention to quality and in London recently started using a different supplier for the sandwiches, which was an improvement. From what I have heard, only pastry is available in the US, and I'm not sure why.
Regarding health care, employees in the UK do not get health insurance at all. Instead, they use the NHS (National Health Service) like the rest of us. But that is a topic for another thread.
One last thing: Starbucks is one of the largest purchasers of Fairtrade coffee in the world because they buy such a huge amount of beans. Not all their coffee is Fairtrade, but they pay premium prices for their coffee.
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Yup, the baked goods suck.
Full of trans-fat, too.
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Great opportunity for other coffee companies!
Starbucks has such a loyal following that this is actually a great opportunity for other coffee companies to share in their business! I know Cuppy's Coffee already hand-pulls shots and trains employees to work as authentic baristas and will be open tonight. I think this is a great thing for Starbucks to do and is one huge step to help get its soul back!
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Portia
In our region (NW US, not sure about nationwide) most SBux stores offer hot breakfast sandwiches (which are okay, but not great, though the seem to move) and a variety of salads and sandwiches for lunch. The lunch sandwiches are quite good, both cold and heated in the oven. The salads vary from a simple fruit salad to a nice spinach salad. Some are good, some merely okay. There are also yogurt/fruit/granola parfaits, which are fine.
I don't eat the pastries myself, except occasionally during a coffee tasting when I might try a bite of something to taste the pairing with a particular coffee. At my store, I find only the blueberry scones halfway edible. Everything else is overly sweet for my taste. Just this week they introduced these seasonal cupcakes which are so sickeningly sweet I find it hard to believe someone actually greenlighted them. I expect customers to die of diabetic shock on the spot should they risk eating one.
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I wonder why Starbucks is failing????
You must be kidding!!!!
In Honolulu alone, between Ward Avenue and Ala Moana Center, there are at least 7 stores!!! And this is only a 1 1/2 mile radius!!!
And when I do go to a Starbucks, it is filled with people who have set up shop for hours, and entire days drinking just one cup of coffee/or beverage and at times, purchasing nothing at all, with their laptops, leaving absolutely not a seat to relax in. If one person does give up their spot, it is usually trashed, dirty and not a place to enjoy a cup of java.
The food is terrible and expensive to boot.
I do love the coffee, and lately, I'll just run in and purchase a bag, have in ground and leave as fast as possible.
I just located Costo's great blend of coffee, freshly ground and much less cost.....so Starbucks....bye bye
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Jesus God get over yourselves, people
We get it you're sooooo kewl that even post modernists don't get your irony. We get it, Starbucks is Satan, they grind up brown children with the beans and smoke meth mixed with the tears of the unborn. They only sell coffee to uppermiddle class white people in SUVs and iPods who trample on the broken bodies of Guatemalan loom workers as they walk in the store. They eat socialists and love to hear the sound of skulls popping under the wheels of their minivans.
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To: Howard
Re: Your soul
How about sourcing the baked goods and other products in your stores from local sources whenever possible, rather than buying them by the shipload from whatever mass marketer gives you the lowest price? That would a) Help you contribute something to the local economies, b) Improve the quality of your wretched baked goods and c) Be great PR.
Also, how about letting each local manager decide how the stores will look, maybe by working with local artists or interior designers to create a look that reflects the history of the city or neighborhood? You could keep some elements consistent (after all, you are a formula retailer with a brand to protect), but otherwise allow some local soul to seep back into things.
Yes, it will cost more, but so what? Quit whining, Schultz. You built this behemoth. If you don't want it to be so soulless, suck it up and change it. Otherwise, please shove your coffee roaster into a place that, like Seattle, doesn't see the sun.
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I second the need for PASTRY IMPROVEMENT!!
Starbucks patries you to be pretty good. They were fresh. Now everything tastes like it's been frozen and thawed out. Mmmm, nothing like a barely room temp, previously frozen croissant for $2.50. I'd rather go to Peet's where the cinammon twists don't taste like cardboard.
The goodies are important. Keep it simple. Keep it fresh.
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Why are we giving billionaires advice?
Make them pay high priced consultants for their damn advice. Undoubtedly, the consultants will proceed to feed them useless tripe like the need to begin serving hamburgers, or the creation of a xerox copy business, but at least they will get their advice in the way that they can ACCEPT. Because it is obvious they couldn't give a flip or listen to the peons coming thru their doors. THAT, or I am the FIRST to ever report that their pastries blow.
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i heart starbucks
starbucks is the best i akways get "cinnimon roll". I have it cold because it tastes better, cinnimon rol is a dish best served cold ha ha! All the people their are pretty mostly. What do they mean do you want a room
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baked goods sub par
Yes, Starbucks' baked goods have long been inexplicably poor for such a carefully planned corporation. Wonder if it has ever occurred to them to contract with local bakeries? I imagine that would be quite logistically complicated but it sure would go a long way towards quality and less the feeling that Starbucks is just a nice Walmart of coffee shops with no local sensibilities. There has to be a better way. Good luck to them. Their coffee is still dependably the best. And their shops are still the most visually appealing and inviting.