“The Way I See It…” Starbucks Losing Its Appeal

Kiel — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:06:44 +0000

Howard Schultz

On February 26th, Starbucks Coffee stores across the country closed for three hours for an employee “espresso training.” It is in my opinion that such a drastic move was made by Howard Schultz, one of the original founders of Starbucks who has recently returned to the company.

Is this move similar to Steve Jobs returning to Apple? I’m sure Schultz left Starbucks a few years ago on good terms, but it seems that the company has lost its soul.

When Starbucks first came to Indianapolis, I was pretty excited. I remember when there were only a few locations and the experience felt truly unique. Why?

Because you had a core group of dedicated employees (partners) and a great atmosphere. But Starbucks has grown so much, so fast, that they have sacrificed service for increased market share at the expense of the Starbucks experience.

If you want to read a good book about Starbucks and really feel the passion that Schultz has for this company, read Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time. It is written by Schultz and shows the dedication and commitment to quality. I actually became more interested in Starbucks because of that book!

But the problem is that when you have such explosive growth, you have to have someone to be there to make the drinks. Working at Starbucks, for some, is just another job… and I don’t believe, having read Schultz’s book, that this is something he would appreciate. There are other things that have “cheapened” the Starbucks experience: automated espresso machines, drive-thru, store design, kiosks in grocery and department stores (Kroger, Target, Meijer,to name a few), sandwhiches.

Carrying a Starbucks cup around is used as a status symbol to some. Starbucks hasn’t been the only one cheapening the experience, it’s the new “clientele” who don’t really love coffee at all! I love what Tom Hank’s character says in You’ve Got Mail:

“The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino!”

What made Starbucks appealing, in my opinion, is the atmosphere which Schultz describes in his book! I don’t mind waiting a few extra minutes for an espresso if it’s done right. I prefer to walk in and enjoy the atmosphere of Starbucks (music, aroma, etc.) without sitting through the drive-thru. I love the smell of roasted coffee beans (because my mom was practically a coffee addict when I was growing up). It’s a great “third place” to meet friends and talk!

To me, the new Starbucks stores don’t have that, and I think Schultz touches on this in an internal memo he sent to the rank-and-file at the company (you can read that here).

Well, that’s “The Way I See It…” To read more about Starbucks, here are some good starting points:

The Wyote Blog » coffee

“The Way I See It…” Starbucks Losing Its Appeal