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Today, starting at 5:30 p.m. (local time), your neighborhood Starbucks is closing. Yes, yours -- and yours, too. (If you live in the U.S., that is.) CEO Howard Schultz has ordered this emergency intensive remedial training, hopefully giving baristas valuable skills they should have learned in the ordinary 40-hour new "partner" training. One of the skills -- which, according to one New York Starbucks manager involved in the test training program, was a "revelation" to some of her workers -- is a milk steaming technique that will allow baristas to "free pour" (without holding foam back with a spoon) the milk no matter how the customer orders the drink. Partners will also be instructed to wipe the steamer wands and rinse the pitchers and shot glasses every time -- not a new idea, but according to anecdotal evidence, also not commonly done. A new procedure will be instituted for the espresso machines; baristas will always pull a double shot, instead of occasionally pulling only one when only one shot is needed. This, apparently, will assure a better-tasting espresso.
Baristas, customers, stockholders and analysts all seem to agree that, much though retraining may be necessary for some individuals, it's not bad foam that has prompted the dip in Starbucks' (NASDAQ: SBUX) stock price; no, it's the uneven and quixotic management initiatives. Now, we're a coffee shop... now we're the "third place" with comfortable chairs... now we're a movie studio... now we're an Apple store... now we're a book publisher/record company/toy store/candy store/cookbook... now we're a fast food joint. It's enough for stakeholders to all rise up with a single voice and ask plaintively:
What about the coffee?
Though Howard Schultz' initiatives since taking over as CEO have, indeed, shown a tendency to bring the coffee into sharper focus, much more needs to be done. Starting with taking care of the customers. And by all accounts the customers are not happy about having Starbucks outlets closed (although one California coffee chain is offering free coffee during the closure). What will you be doing while your local Starbucks is closed; and will you be coming back to try the retrained coffee on Wednesday?
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Reader Comments (Page 16 of 16)
2-26-2008 @ 10:02AM
Patricia OBryan said...
2-26-2008 @ 10:31AM
smkd trky chitlins said...
I THINK THEY SHOULD CLOSE LIKE THE INTENT OF THE ARTICLE AUTHOR HA IN BACK OF THEIR MIND.
2-26-2008 @ 11:44AM
taj said...
No amount of new training can overcome the low quality espresso produced by Starbuck's automatic machines. The day they replaced the manual with an automatic was the day I quit drinking their espresso.
2-26-2008 @ 12:36PM
Kent said...
I guess I can go cold turkey today. Going back to the basics is a good idea. I still say their prices are high.
2-26-2008 @ 2:21PM
halemary100 said...
Wow. Talk about a thread going on a tangent! Getting back to Starbucks, I have never had a good cup in my town, but I have in other cities. There is a Tim Hortons accross the street. They know how to brew a good cup of coffee and are much cheaper. It's all about quality control, which Starbucks is not too good at.
2-26-2008 @ 8:54PM
Fred Leonard said...
Why should I go to STARBUCKS for a $ 4.00 cup of coffee when I can go to MC DONALDS for an awesome cup of coffee & refills for only $.39 ! Thats right.....39 cents! Do it now! And....then go to FredLeonard.com to hear an awesome sound!
Thanks for reading!
www.FredLeonard.com
2-26-2008 @ 10:38PM
lumorrone said...
Maybe all the people who try Mcdonald's because Starbucks is closed won't be going back. Maybe they shot themselves in the latte.
2-26-2008 @ 11:26PM
lori said...
people that says starbucks is a rip off is because they ARE CHEAP unlike dunkin donuts or any other coffee store SB sales THE BEST QUALITY COFFEE but they dont know that because they choose to go some where cheap so how about we learn the diff. between good and bad coffee...............
2-27-2008 @ 6:28AM
Ray said...
Apparently all the news people are avid (or is that rabid) Starbucks fans. Otherwise, a business closing for three hours to retrain their people how to do their job right would never be national news.
Maybe, just maybe their downturn in business is from their customers having to decide if they want to spend $4 for a cup of coffee or a gallon of gas.
3-05-2008 @ 12:00PM
Boring Market said...
The focus is no longer on the growth of the company, but rather on the connection that each barista can have with you. The effort and attention to detail to your beverage will hold greater value than the speed in which it’s made.
www.boringmarket.com
3-07-2008 @ 2:12PM
sophia Linehan said...
In response to mamabe, I don't know where you got your information about how Starbucks does not support the troops! I am a Strabucks employee. My region of Starbucks employees this summer collected hundreds of pounds of coffee for the troops! We even had posters in the stores to ask customers to donate a pound of coffee as well! At the end of the summer we sent the coffee over seas. I know my region of Strabucks supports the troops!