"The Five Stages of Starbucks Grief" -- a guide for those upset about their neighborhood coffee shop going under

The intro to this humor piece says: "The grief associated with losing a branch of a ubiquitous coffee chain can be hard, especially when finding an alternative location can require the use of the sun to navigate, a skill mostly lost to history. That and the ability to walk 100 feet." (Read the Minyanville.com piece)

> A critic feels bad about the Starbucks closings, even though she rarely frequents the place
 

Comments

[Sheik]

Those little animations are hilarious

[joss]

Agreed. I love stage 2. And stage 4 could just as easily be 'puking'.

[Jj]

Those are the same stages when you get FIRED from Starbucks! lol. I got through the first four in 5 minutes. Then I realized its the best thing that ever happened to me :)

[Jake]

Starbucks decided to not cancel the breakfast sandwiches and is going to start them in the Rocky Mountain Region on Sept. 12.

[BarryBonds]

Is anyone talking about the lay offs that occured yesterday in the HR group at Starbucks? Seems it sneaked under the radar (probably wasn't the last either).

[Pat Nerr]

FINALLY!!! Someone with a creative sense of humor. I'm inspired by that article.

Barry... Let PRIDE know would ya? There was some question about the truth of HR outsourcing...

and it isn't the last...

[Ken]

That was funny! I was talking to someone the other day, who was afriad that "her" starbucks was going to be closed! I showed her the list of stores that were closing. She was relieved, she didn't want to have to go another MILE down the road to another one! Phew, dodged a bullett there!

[HRcorppartner]

Pat, we've heard that Tuesday is "D" day..do you have any details as to what depts within HR should expect the pink slips? PLEASE, if you know this information, don't make us all lose sleep over the weekend...

And this is the WORST approach to layoffs I have ever seen in my entire career. This place has become a joke from an HR perspective. No respect, no courage, there are a LOT of pissed off HR support partners right now.

[truth]

There's a lot going on at HQ in the last few days that hasn't been discussed here.

And some of the regular PR shills have mysteriously disappeared too.

Can you say 'quiet period'?

[Trent]

Not surprised at all that we are not cancelling breakfast sandwiches. Howard even mentioned in that Portfolio interview that he had 2nd thoughts about it after finding out much money they made.

Given the state of the company, I'm sure he feels some sort of pressure to keep money flowing in. Were definitely not in any position to just throw away money from our top line.

[Ken]

"he had 2nd thoughts about it after finding out much money they made."

So much for getting back to you roots, ay? Well, then again, isn't there roots in opening up new stores?

[BuyOUT comminngggggggg!]

I'll have a Pepsi with a shot added with that!

[French Roast]

Even with there is a buyout from Pepsi, what is so bad about that? They are an established company that has been around for many, many years. Maybe it would be the best thing that could happen!

[truth]

@French roast-

I'm pretty sure Pepsi has their own distribution, sales/mktg, product, purchasing,etc depts.

HQ would be gutted.

Not sure how that's good for the employees.

[Coffee Soldier]

I heard 20% of DM's were being trimmed out.....good maybe I'll end up with a good one!

[French Roast]

They are already laying people off at the SCC. It probably is on the way to being gutted now. No matter how much Howard dreams,the company will never be what it once was. The people who work in the stores aren't happy like they once were, the enviroment isn't a "feel good" place anymore. At least everyone who works for the company will have a clearer picture of what the future will look like instead of playing a guessing game like they are now. Maybe if the company gets bought out by Pepsi, or whoever, things might be better. That's all I'm saying.

[Darleen]

two and three really cracked me up, at least people are having a sense of humor with this.

[Curious]

Darleen, how would you feel when SBUX is bought by Pepsi?

[Darleen]

I guess everyone knows which stage I'm still stuck in.

[STARBUCKS GOSSIP WEBMASTER]

DARLEEN: Just to let you know-- "Curious" is the same person who posted the unsubstantiated Pepsi rumor under the name "Buyout Commminnnnggg." I suggest that he/she stick with one nick or he/she will be banned.

[eleanor abernathy]

The "rumour" floating around the SSC is that either 20% or 1000 SSC employees will be given the axe next Friday. Should be interesting. Those who are laid off should look into opening their own coffee shops in the Starbucks locations that are closing.

[Pat Nerr]

that's what I heard as well... 25% was the number and it came from two distinct departments that have two different reasons to know... headcount and labor $...

interesting = readying for a deal to be crafted

[Cut out the Heart]

No rumours but fact...Sbux is currently letting the ax fall. I have a close friend who was Regional Director that was just let go today.This person is the single biggest Sbux supporter I have ever met. Single handedly they have made this company millions of dollars, and did so without question. This person has developed and improved the lives of thousands of partners to levels of success that has returned to the company a significant amount of money. This all does not matter to the current COO and his team of cronies. Seems that all the company is doing is responding to Wall Street's demands to prop up share price. I understand the business of business, the people that are making the decisions now are not doing it for the people but just the numbers. In Howard's book, he talks about he worries that Sbux will become a company with no soul...well Howard the people you are trusting to make the right decisions are ripping out the soul by eliminating people with the heart and skills to advance the company. The cost to the company will far outweigh the savings and the artificial improvement in the stock price. I predict that Sbux will no longer be a Top 100 company to work for after this next week is over. If they are in the Top 1000, I would be surprised.

[Broken Starbucks]

Hey "cut out the heart"- which area was the Regional Director laid off from? I know there are DMs already on the list as well and then a ton of other support jobs. Only a few of the partner resources ones occured so far and even those were very very hush hush. I only know it was one of the field generalist roles and I heard it was all of them. I think Starbucks will certainly not make the top 100 to work at, especially if people knew all the behind the scenes work being done around the lay offs and the horrible way its being handled.

[StLouieDrip]

I started my grieving process on April 8. Sure, I knew something special was suppose to happen before that date, and that it would change sbux forever. I heard it was gonna be good. But I had no idea the "change" would mean no bold coffee served after noon. What a shock. And yeah, I was definitely in denial for a while. But by the time the store closing were announced I was already in stages 3 and 4.

And everyone should also remember that we don't go through the 5 grieving stages in sequential order. We go back, forward, sideways, 2 or 3 at a time. Then none at all. Yeah, that's when we think we're over it, whew. And then BAM!, we loop back around through the 5 stages in wild and crazy ways, just to make it interesting I guess.

But I do like how I'm looking around for alternatives. For instance I've brewed lots of heavenly cups of fresh-roasted beans at home, yum. And I've looked up all the indies in my city, visited a few. Certainly sbux is a hard habit to break, but I'm now planning on visiting every single indie, and that's a good thing. And OMG, I lurve the smell of fresh roasted beans in the house, mmmmm. Yes, I know I will recover, and I will move on. Until then, there is still SG. ;-)

And wow, some of you folks have a very amazing ability to run a thread off-topic.

[Chel]

That was funny. I just found out that the Sbux closest to my job is closing. The problem (the grief) is not the difficulty of using the sun to find the next nearest starbucks (they are all over!). The grief is that they are closing the one I liked the best because it was cozy and no drive-thru!! The stores they are keeping (and a new one opening up) all have the drive-thru. I feel bad for the employees too. It could happen to any of us.

[Cut Out The Heart]

I can't say where as of yet because of all the changes going, on there are going to be more people let go by next Tuesday. I would also be concerned about the Starbucks people that monitor this website trying to figure out who is leaving this informatin. In all the time I have been associated with Starbucks, the behaviors they are exhibiting are very concerning. Seems over reactive to me. Who is to blame for that Howard? I think Howard is the modern day example of the Emperor with no clothes.

As for running off topic Stlouiedrip, not sure if you were referencing my post but I think that it is all tied together in that the 5 steps should be applied to all the passionate Starbucks folks that have built the brand and brought a great experience to everyone who comes to this website. My friend for example had 10+ years with the company. Howard and his henchman Martin Coles didn't take that into consideration. It would be one thing if the performance of the person was totally crappy but it is not. I am afraid that the Starbucks experience is dying a slow painful text book MBA death. You would think the company is on the brink of bankruptcy. I think this thread and the other threads about saving the local Starbucks is an indication that the customer is still visiting the locations. I would say to Howard to take accountability for the poor leadership and do so not on the backs of hardworking people. Howard is making his decisions based on information that the yes people he has surrounded himself with are telling him. No one is protecting the culture of the company. That makes me very sad. Starbucks is fast becoming just like every other company. Nothing special about them. Very sad.

[StLouieDrip]

@Cut Out The Heart, when I wrote that comment I wasn't even paying attention to names, so I wasn't sure whose posts it was that went "off-topic." But I just reread, and no, it wasn't you. It was really the breakfast sandwich and pepsi buyout comments that really gave me that "off-topic" feeling.

As to employees losing their jobs because of closing stores, I TOTALLY can see how that's on-topic to 5 stages of grief. Absolutely. And I think the coffee convenience we customers are losing doesn't come close to comparing to the losses of the sbux employees.

And I actually agree with everything else you wrote in both your posts, and those same exact thoughts about accountability, and how sbux (and Howard) made millions off the backs of the lowest paid have crossed my mind many, many times. The fact that Howard's wealth was made from some of the lowest paid, who really put their heart and soul into their jobs, who are now losing their jobs, is very disgusting to me. (hmm, is "disgust" one of the stages of grief?)

Very sorry also about your friend. Without even knowing these background stories of the good people who are losing out, I somehow knew a lot of good people were getting sidelined because of the decisions made by idiots. And I knew that because it shows up in the stores in the form of a deteriorating product, deteriorating atmosphere, and deteriorating service. :-(

[Cut Out The Heart]

Hey Stlouiedrip. Thanks, I just wanted to make sure I was not the offending responder. I am in the hospitality industry and we use Starbucks as the example that all companies should aspire to be and it is sad to see that they are just like all the rest. I used to tell my friend who is the biggest Starbucks groupie I know, that it is easy to be a good company when things are going well, that the true test of a company is when things are not going well when you see the true colors of a company. I think Starbucks has proved that theory but unfortunately the true colors are just like every other company. The senior leaders keep their jobs and growing incomes and the employees suffer. I may be able to understand what they are doing if the company was going under and they were trying to keep it afloat, then some people may have to lose their jobs to keep the company alive. This is not the case with Starbucks. The first sign of trouble and they let people go wholesale.

Well, I guess it is time to move on now. What is done is done.

[urbanartiste]

It is always sad when a company has to shut stores because it means people will lose jobs. I noticed some of the baristas from a frequently visited store at other locations, which meant that it was going to close. This was happening months ago and now it is on the list. Starbucks just opened too many stores simultaneously. But the one they are closing makes no sense to me since it is right next to a movie theater and shops. There is one down the road from it that is always empty, but has a drive through. Makes no sense to me.

[manageresse]

The entire situation is sad, no doubt, but will benefit in the end. As for the store closures I do not know about the rest of the US but in our area (the southeast) most of these managers are being placed in other stores as well as the baristas, being the choice of timing (back to school/holiday) partners are needed in an extreme matter right now. Even if you are a partner who has nowhere to go, the supplement packages are more than generous and as always Starbucks is taking care of its partners.