Starbucks - Closing down sale on now!

Churba

As many of you are aware, Starbucks are in a tight spot. I'm not sure how many stores they happen to be closing the the us (More than a hundred, I've heard, but that's neither here nor there) - However, I do know that they are closing 61 of the 85 Starbucks Stores in Australia, laying off some 700 workers.
Starbucks has released a statement about this - Apparently, the Australian Coffee culture isn't quite what they thought.

Viga

Ding dong the witch coffee is dead? :P

Omnutia

Damn, when they close the one I go to I'll have to go to one of the ones across the street.

Sail

Coffee Bean > Starbucks

...

Fuck yeah! No more coffee!

Churba

Suprisingly, starbucks is somewhat sparse down here - There is only one or two in my city, three in a nearby city(The Gold Coast - Not just a tourist and "trendsetter" hotspot, But sounds like a location in an RPG)

Funfetus

I'm not sure how many stores they happen to be closing the the us (More than a hundred, I've heard, but that's neither here nor there)

Damn -- I hope they're not all on my block. It is a nice place to sit and draw people. And the coffee's not too horrible once you get the first few sips out of the way.

Loganator456

I actually really like a couple of Starbucks frappucinos. The green tea, orange creme, and strawberry creme are really, really good.

Schnevets

Coffee Bean > Starbucks

Any place you have someone else prepare your coffee < 7-11 or any other convenience store.

Good riddance, I say. As much as I hate any store closing down, it's about time Starbucks stops spreading its stores into every unoccupied area possible.

jcc

I actually really like a couple of Starbucks frappucinos. The green tea, orange creme, and strawberry creme are really, really good.

One of the reasons for their success. Most people in the States had never heard of caffinated milkshakes before Starbucks.

Churba

I like Starbucks, I've been addicted to chai masala coffees for a long time (A habit I picked up in India), but Starbucks make it the way I like it - Anywhere over half a litre and strong.

Dkong

I don't really like coffee at all. And if I'm gonna have it I won't be picky and I certainly won't be spending $4 on a cup of it. I could just get a bag of coffee beans for $4.

Good riddance, I say. As much as I hate any store closing down, it's about time Starbucks stops spreading its stores into every unoccupied area possible.

Agreed.

Funfetus

And if I'm gonna have it I won't be picky and I certainly won't be spending $4 on a cup of it. I could just get a bag of coffee beans for $4.

Let's be serious here. It's like $1.95 for the large cup of coffee. Anything that's 4 bucks is a fancy blended drink.

HMTKSteve

Starbucks did themselves in when they tried to keep up with Wall Street expectations. They ignored (or did not do) their field research before opening new stores. This caused new stores to be located in bad locations or (even worse) to be in direct competition with existing stores.

I'm with Funfetus on the $4 cup of coffee thing. The few times I have purchased coffee there it was always well under $2 per cup. In fact their prices are not that different from Dunkin Donuts (at least in my neck of the woods).

Dkong

Alright, whatever. I was pulling numbers out of my ass. I do remember my sister saying her frappucino was like $3.50 once, though. I realize that a frappucino != a cup of coffee, it's still fucking expensive.

Neito

Alright, whatever. I was pulling numbers out of my ass. I do remember my sister saying her frappucino was like $3.50 once, though. I realize that a frappucino != a cup of coffee, it's still fucking expensive.

The problem with your thinking is that a Frappuchino is a milkshake, and (at least around here) the going price for a milkshake is about 3 bucks. You can't really look at a Frappuchino as a regular cup of coffee.

Churba

a 20 ounce cup of just straight up coffee only costs about $3-$4 dollars here, which is pretty good, considering that at A lot of places you're paying the same price for a coffee half the size.

CHOIS CHOIS CHOIS

One time, I went to Starbucks and a got a huge cup of tea that took like 3 hours to cool. When I got to the summer day camp, a girl asked what I had, and I said tea, and in shock she said "you went to Starbucks and got tea!?!?!"
The next time I got some I coffee thing.

edit: I have a feeling, that since the economy is down the shitter, no one wants expensive coffee, or as often as they use too.

Churba

edit: I have a feeling, that since the economy is down the shitter, no one wants expensive coffee, or as often as they use too.

Our economy is doing pretty well, better than it has in many years, though it will peak in time. I don't know how many people have read the article, but Starbucks went for a niche, but found it already partway filled, and therefore weren't able to get enough of a toehold to really establish themselves.

Schnevets

One time, I went to Starbucks and a got a huge cup of tea that took like 3 hours to cool. When I got to the summer day camp, a girl asked what I had, and I said tea, and in shock she said "you went to Starbucks and got tea!?!?!"
The next time I got some I coffee thing.

edit: I have a feeling, that since the economy is down the shitter, no one wants expensive coffee, or as often as they use too.

Wrong.

When people experience rough times, they still want some kind of relief/entertainment. A $4 Frappuchino twice a week may seem like a luxury item, but the actual savings are negligible compared to other money-sinks (like buying a $60 video game once a month, or going on a yearly vacation).
Also, people are more likely to use Starbucks for meetups/dates. At a good cafe, buying one cup of coffee gives you a seat in an atmosphere comparable to a decent restaurant, but isn't nearly as expensive.


I work at a Dairy Queen and my boss gets a food service magazine that had a feature on how to thrive in a bad economy. It actually isn't a bad read (at least, more tolerable than serving people).