Another pundit weighs in: Why Starbucks has ground to a halt

What Robert Passikoff writes is hardly news to Starbucks Gossip readers, but I'll share it anyway: "Once the grinders stopped grinding, the shops lost that nice coffee smell. And without hand-pulled shots, the sense of theater was gone from the visit. Vanished along with it was the reward of the custom experience. Pretty soon, customers began to think the inevitable: Hmmm. That other chain down the street can give me more or less the same cup of coffee, but they don't charge as much." Read "Why Starbucks Has Ground to a Halt" (Brandweek)

Comments

[MO_barista]

I'm sorry, but whoever wrote that article clearly has not done his or her research. I work at a Sbux in St. Louis, MO, and at our store, we grind our coffee fresh every day. The morning people (myself included) grind coffee to last us for the day, and sometimes we go through it all and have to grind more before then.

As for the hand-pulled shots, the Sbux in Webster Groves, MO still has them. So that leads me to believe that some other Sbux might, too.

I think that whatever store(s) the author of this article visited must have had less than average partners, because at my store, our enthusiasm and dedication creates the experience for our customers. It still smells like freshly ground coffee when you come in, and there is still a lot of fun in standing by the hand-off counter and watching your drink as it gets made.

I wish that people could understand that Sbux partners are human, and therefore please readjust your superhuman standards to reflect that. Thank you.

[Megan in Seattle]

While I like to support my local shop, and definitely miss the actual coffee smell in Starbucks, I don't understand the math. My tall mocha is $3.01 in my own cup at Starbucks. It's $3.83 at my local shop (let's say $3.48 because every 11th one is free). It's $3.75 at a smaller Seattle-only chain (3 stores). What are these widely-referenced five-dollar drinks at Starbucks, anyhow?

[Venti Urnex Latte]

MO barista,
The guy who wrote that is not in Missouri. He is in New York City, where I am. The stores here are a mess. Crowded, filthy and noisy. The baristas are hopeless. Turnover is so high that half of them have no idea what they are doing. Most NYC stores are so busy and mismanaged that quality really suffers.

[Torontodude]

re: NYC Stores being crowded and dirty, with clueless baristas.

Ditto that. But you forgot to mention extremely demanding customers.

When I lived in Manhattan, my solution was to look for "hideaway" Starbucks. What I called "The Regis Starbucks" across the street from his studio was always a zoo. But there was a much less busy store with nice baristas a few blocks away -- I think at Columbus and 74th.

[xsbuxdm]

$5 drinks? Usually a venti espresso beverage or frozen beverage with extras (shots/syrup/soy etc.). Prices vary by market as well. I live in the DC area and a double tall latte w/soy milk is over $4.

The guy that wrote the article is right on. Partners have always driven the Starbucks experience. As the company grew, many long term partners left, and the culture really became watered down. My old region probably lost 100 years of Starbucks "experience" in about a year's time as tenured management (many 10+ years with SBUX) departed in droves.

As this was all going on, the competition, dare I say it, got better! Maybe not so much from a service perspective, but definitely from a quality perspective. I know that the Starbucks I frequent are all over the place in terms of quality, I might or might not get a good drink. So to combat that, I tend to head to the store that is most consistent.

Howard needs to do what he said he was going to do, and get back to the basics. Forget the whole "lifestyle" thing, and focus on what made Starbucks great in the first place: the coffee and the people!

"Howard needs to do what he said he was going to do, and get back to the basics. Forget the whole "lifestyle" thing, and focus on what made Starbucks great in the first place: the coffee and the people!"

Perfectly said.

By the way, let's not forget the impact of the drive-thrus and ovens.

[leanna jackson]

well there's a lady that comes into our store that gets a triple 10-splenda raspberry mocha frap, which comes to $6-something. if we multiply her by a few hundred, maybe the average drink cost would be somewhere around $5...

[Naptown Barista]

I wish that my store was like the one that MO Barista describes. Oh sure, we still grind our coffee in the morning, and later in the day too if necessary. But anyone who worked in a SBUX for any length of time could tell that everything began to go south in '05 (although some might feel earlier than that.) The ovens came then, and we tried to become something that we weren't. Corporate said "we can do food better than anyone", and they were sadly mistaken. We tried to be something we weren't. Then came "service with speed", where you had 3 minutes from order to delivery, even counting the seconds that it took to accept payment & deliver the drink (in the DRIVE THRU). Then came "training"...if you can call it that. Remember when attending the Starbucks Experience was required? It emphasized what HAD been important. Promoting 22 year old "kids" to SM, when they obviously weren's ready. (But in fairness, there are some good ones out there.) External hires who had managed gas stations, but never a coffee shop? Shift Supervisors who have no training, who have to figure it out on the fly? Remember "Think big, stay small?", when being part of the community was important? (We're leaving them now.) Remember "Random Acts of Coffee?" Now we're a shop of dueling timers, beeps, buttons, ovens, and drive thru windows, required to leave voicemails with the DM on how many specialty drinks we've sold, only to have them call the next morning during the rush to request the same info because they "hadn't checked messages yet". Look at all of the inventory that the stores now are forced to carry and toss at expiration, lunch sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches, BANANAS! (seems only fitting!) Those at the store level saw this coming, but those in the castle imposing their will on the fiefdom didn't, they were too busy expanding and pushing bad ideas. It's sad. Ironically, I'm in a great store, with many tenured partners. We built our business like were were supposed to (and were successful...until more sprung up around us.) We followed the guiding principles (still do, if you can find them posted anywhere!), our customers love each and every one of us. The final imposition from the castle? We're closing, not because of any decision we made, but by those made by others. Now even our customers feel as though they are being discarded. (Sorry about the lengthy diatribe, but sadly this is the only place anyone listens!)

[Venti Urnex Latte]

Toronto Dude --
Rumour holds that Regis refuses to go to Starbucks because the baristas in his local Starbucks were mean to him. The smaller stores are usually nicer. They should have more tiny stores and fewer big stores.

[Torontodude]

re: Regis and Starbucks

Actually, The Regis gripe is that Starbucks is "too complicated"

But Regis also finds many other things "too complicated" -- like cell phone, digital thermostats ...and much of the last part of the 20th century.

His complaint was all that he wanted was "a regular cup of coffee." But he didn't know how to order, where to stand, or when he was supposed to pay. And he thought the drinks other people were ordering were ridiculous. He was just a regular guy surrounded by phonies.

So he went into one of his rants in describing the experience. It was actually pretty funny -- and I'm sure he spoke for many Starbucks newbies, a.k.a. "regular people who want a regular cup of coffee.

Since Regis is a classic, classy Martini type of guy....I think his drink would be a French press of single origin coffee. Next time Howard is in NY, he should present it to Regis on air.

Whaddaya think?

All

[stubbysquid]

They falter also because they outsource work at the headquarters. The pay is bad for temps and the staff supervisors there are mean. They don't even give the outsourced help discounts on their in house store. If you want to buy a shirt it will cost you seventy five bucks to advertise for them this is how they show the communities they take over that they deserve our business. There are nasty partners that call in to the partner centers. Everything is to micromanaged.

[adam hartung]

Mr. Schultz' "back to basics" program for Starbucks is a disaster. Acting like a Jim Collins "hedgehog" is burrowing into the dirt - and letting competitors run right over Starbucks. This is bad news for investors, and the innovative employees that historically helped move Starbucks into new growth businesses. Read more at http://www.ThePhoenixPrinciple.com

[Mollie]

Last night I went to Starbucks and had my usual wonderful experience. Love the pumpkin scones. After I left I stopped into a store for some shopping and when I paid the clerk said " You must have just had coffee since you smell SO good " She then told me she loves that smell and could smell it just with me across the counter. So I don't agree at all about the shops not smelling like coffee any longer. In fact my hair usually smells like coffee each time I have been in there for awhile. Yum!

[Partner209306]

Dare I say it? Dare..DARE!! The reason Starbucks is now frowned on by the market is the very reason that it grew..
5 years ago: cookie cutter design, automated bad machines, frozen pastries, high turnover due to low wages were a good thing. Now they are the reason that the company is tanking..
Starbucks engaged in short-term decision making and cancer-cell-esque growth.. That doesn't last forever. The house of cards that Howie built is now imploding.

[Melody]

The key then, partner209306,is that they have to break out of the cookie cutter model. Stencils of 3 holiday cups were a bad idea with the most recent launch.

A small percentage of stores with Clovers, most not. New store design. There's a prototype Starbucks on 4th Avenue South in Seattle that has an oval center island, and tables that look like they were lift right up from Mt. Rainier National Park - no round table.

The question is what will Howard do to create great change? I thought the 3rd quarter earnings call was far more interesting than what we just heard. Then, Howard was talking about "leveraging store design" and not chasing a business model that included brand dilution of too many licensed stores.

Fourth quarter earnings call, we just heard Howard say yesterday that 200 new licensed stores are planned for 2009, and we heard that stores get a remodel at 5 and 10 years, but none of the same enthusiastic interesting horizon stuff that we heard 3rd quarter.

Who is Howard listening to? Probably people with high credentials who put short-term profitability before all else. Throw some stores out there to cannibalize sales of company operated stores.

Ummm, last I checked, no stores in St. Louis have the La Marzocco, including the Webster Groves location.

[Melissa]

There are Starbucks that are like the mom & pop independent coffee shops, but these are probably the ones at risk of being closed. If your store does a million or more a year, no matter how shitty the service, they'll keep you open. If you've got a La Marzocca, you're probably not high volume. But customers and partners probably love it there, tips are great, but the $10,000 a week just won't cut it for corporate. These gems of Starbucks are what the company used to be. But they pushed us and pushed us to just sell, sell, sell, quick, quick, quick. Then the reporting to the DM came along. How many turd lattes did you sell today? What!!! No one bought a turd latte? What about the low fat shit on a stick pastry? Only ONE!!! Look at your markouts!!!There's going to be some accountability here!!! Those who do work in a store that can actually service the customer don't understand where all the frustration comes from, because they are lucky to be in a store that didn't lose the spirit. But spirit does not pay the bills. I go to Dunkin Donuts every day now. If there were a Starbucks, I'd still go to Dunkin, even though I worked at SB for 4 years before leaving. The DD is cleaner, nicer people, and great coffee as well, a better experience. DD got better over the years. Before a DD was a smoky, run down, rat infested dive. Now, they are handing Starbucks their ass without trying. Starbucks didn't get better over the years, They got greedy.

[Canuck Barista]

Every time my mother picks me up from work, she is taken aback by how much I smell like coffee. EVERY. TIME.

[tallguy]

LISTEN...It all starts with the people we hire to work at the stores. When a potential hire can earn $8.50/hr to work at Starbucks, which is a very damanding employer, or earn $13/hr to work at a sun tan place where they are required to sit at the front desk and read a book, which do you think they will choose? Starbucks "total compensation" is a joke at the store level. Our stores suffer from the turnover and disengaged partners. If the company doesn't buy into the partners, how does the company expect the partners to buy into it in return?

We need to INVEST in our people. INVEST in OFFSITE BARISTA TRAINING - so it actually gets completed, offer real SUPERVISOR classes to explain what it means to execute on priorities, and put store managers through business school 101 so they can truly run their store without the guesswork.

Christine McHugh, are you listening, OFFSITE BARISTA TRAINING?!

[truth]

Transformational agenda = Transform partners into customers = Increased sales and profits = Remain in charge = Buy a basketball team

[concerned sbux partner 111]

@tallguy
agreed 100%

@melissa
agreed. my normal store is so busy service goes out the window. covered a shift today at a slower store and it was so nice to actually talk to customers, be gracious, smile and not be so stressed. that's the real sbux experience. but the busy stores are where the money is under our system. corporate can make this a more profitable company without closing these gems if they show up and do their jobs. stop blaming stores for their own failures.

@melody
the reason they keep opening licensed stores is that licensed stores are pure profit gold. problem is, as you well know, no safeway/qfc/target employee is gonna give a crap about your experience. we can't even get some PARTNERS to care! The loss of the experience is what has eroded our brand, not competition.
So instead of long-term investment in people and fixing our current company stores and, by extension your experience, what do we do? we go for short term profit in the form of more bad licenced stores at the expense of our unique edge on everyone else. It's like a profit junkie that just needs another hit and ignores that fact that they're killing themself!

[starbucks halt]

I think that the problem lies upon the specific Store Managers. More often than not, some are not "doing as they say" but hypocrites of what they are preaching. Don't get me wrong though, I've seen some really awesome stores with great partners. The question is, why do partners fill out surveys months back, but no action comes from it? Each individual store should be evaluated by DM's & RM's with surprise visits from those higher up. Without the implementation of corrective action, Starbucks will continue to struggle.

Everyone is right, baristas do provide the front line when it comes to customer service. But, their attitude and legendary service are reflected by that of the SM.

In response to the cleanliness of a particular store, if they are really that busy, some can afford labor to bussers. It honestly does not take that long to walk out/change milks/ wipe down tables and check lobby/bathroom. Some partners may just not care, bringing down the rest of the partners that work their butts off each and everyday.

To answer the turnover rate..why not temporarily transfer some extraordinary partners to the new stores to help the transition. There's no sense in hiring 20 people who look like chickens with their heads cut off trying to find the right recipe. Same with ASMs and SMs..why does SBUX continue to let their management struggle to even obtain product to get through the week. They cannot possibly be ignorant of the fact that customers complain time and time again.

Busier stores should afford more labor, there's no reason why customer service should suffer that bad.

[Melody]

@concerned sbux partner 111 - Well said about the licensed store openings, but it is still quite a disappointment to me. By the way, are you in downtown Seattle? I only ask because Starbucks store 111 is located on 5th & Cherry in downtown Seattle. If you want to email me an answer: melodysv2vaddress@live.com. If so, you have a fabulous SM.

[ineedhelp]

Our store is in the same boat. Surely, Starbucks Head Office needs increase hourly pay at the store levels in Canada and the US. Our store in the past 3 months has gone through 8 new employees... they come in, submit their resume, go through the interview process, and because our store is desperate to fill in barista positions and shifts, these people are usually hired right away. With our low wages, you get low experienced prospects, these new employees (or losers), show up late, have no enthusiasm, take food and mark them out as extra leftovers or damaged, give out free drinks to their friends... Starbucks in return gets what they pay for... you pay low wages, you get low quality employees with no desire to work and provide that true Starbucks experience Howard always talks about. When wages go up, you get better talent. It's just that simple...

[helpUShoward]

I also agree with the above. With all the turnover at many stores, most of the newly minted baristas stay for a few weeks after their in-store training, realize how crappy this job is for the little pay, are crappy about their jobs and hours, and all of this shows on the barista's face when customers come in. At the end, these crappy hires QUIT. We're then back to square one and again, we hire another crappy hire. It's like the movie Groundhog Day all over again. This process repeats itself over, and over. What a waste of time, money and energy for Starbucks and for the staff that truely pour their heart into Starbucks.

[jc]

It seems to me that it will all get even worse with the new labor system. 3 people just left the local Starbucks near me because of it. Two had been with the company over 5 years, and the other, a customer favorite, was in line to become a shift.

It's great the coffee is again being grinded daily but the breakfast sandwhiches and warmed pastries stink things up.

Come on Howard, sell all the oven to D'Angelos or something!

In the mean time, if I'm looking for an inviting enviroment I'll go to Peets.

[Steve]

I agree that is certainly part of the equation, and a big part when you consider not only is machine made coffee cheaper down the street, but also that custom made hand pulled shots are also available.

No one at my local starbucks could explain that I need to always order an extra shot now that the machines are automated and thus the drug ios weaker than it once was - so the place down the road often has a more potent jolt as well.

Of course you have to figure the economy is hurting bad all over, and starbucks is also a victim of it's own success with lines sometimes getting long, and other places trying to cash in on the craze that starbucks really took to the next level - it's hard in this country to have something great and not have it copied.

All in all, I'd love to see a fast lane at my local dealer and a custom lane.. may help with the lines, but I'd still be standning waiting for the custom hand crafted brew :)

[concerned]

First of all, let me say that I have been employed by starbucks for 6 years, and I love it. What do I think is missing? Really, just getting back to being a coffeehouse. Great employees, and great conversation. Books, politics, and people who really care. Yes, a great quality beverage is important too, but I think it is the experience that will set us apart from the competition. Call me crazy, but I really strive to give the majority of my customers a great experience. they can get coffee anywhere else. That is my stores philosophy, and we have a great client base. I must say that trying to get starbucks back to what it was seems a bit desperate. Let us not forget what made starbucks starbucks. The people (both the customers AND the partners) It is not all the extra crap that we must do BEFORE we even get to the customer. We are so concerned with payroll, and tasks that the customers are left out in the cold. who wants to feel like that? and pay 5 bucks to boot? Just a thought.

[inopethflames]

yah ive said it before & ill say it again, u may think coffee is too expensive to start with, but starbucks is cheaper than any local or other coffee store i think ive ever been to. plus with the gold card or just the free starbucks rewards card, u get additional discounts. the fact is that people just like to pick on big corporations because either their jealous of its success and or they are people that wish for 'simpler times' or 'mom & pop' shops.

[Dr Bonk]

So tired of hearing about the mythical "five dollar cup of coffee." You'd think people would do, you know, research before writing.

[Darleen]

After reading all of these posts I think the one thing we all can agree on is that Starbucks has some work to do. That being said, it is pretty clear to me that people love to hate them. All these negative posts, yet you're all on a STARBUCKS website, discussing STARBUCKS, so you must care in some form or other.

[Allie]

DrBonk: I agree with you! Where is this $5 cup of coffee everyone ALWAYS quotes when talking about how much starbucks costs? Coffee is $1.75, $1.97, or $2.07. Get over it.

Starbucks has become a victim of itself. Yes, the problem involved the ovens, and taking away COW, and the 3 minute rule. But what all of this stands for is that Starbucks got a big head, and thought they could take on more than they actually could. They got greedy and decided they wanted a broader base of more customers, bringing in food, and Vivannos, and getting rid of the coffee core. They can't handle this broad base without being a hypocrite of everything they once stood for.

Darleen,

I used to care. I used to be the one partners would turn to when they were feeling jaded and used. I used to lead my shifts from a position of teamwork and pride in what we were doing. And it worked out beautifully when upper management were leading from the same place.

Around the 2005-2006 timeframe, a cultural shift came about, at least in my region. Upper management began leading from a place of ego and "Cover Your Ass" micromanagement. Passion and dedication became passe, replaced by daily phone calls, email followup, corporate doublespeak and, above all, speed of service.

Out went snapshots that focused on quality and legendary service, to be replaced by Customer Voice, which can be manipulated by partners who only provide the invitations to those who will say the right things in a survey. Promotions began where partners were commanded to push subpar drinks upon customers, pushing numbers ahead of quality (skinny mocha, anyone?). Partner morale was sacrificed to stroke the egos of upper management. Survival became a popularity contest among the SM and DM levels. In short, Starbucks went from being a special experience for everyone involved, to being a get-them-in and get-them-out numbers game. It's no wonder customers and partners alike fled in droves. And those who still cared about the old mission were tossed aside in favor of those who were cutthroat and ass kissers.

I still stop into my old store from time to time. I stopped in on Monday, actually. In the 5 short months since I left, NOBODY who was working the morning shift was anybody I knew. I may as well have stopped into a store in another state. And the positive attitudes I remember from my time there? Gone, and replaced with nothing but stress.

So yes, Starbucks has some work to do. And yes, on some level I still care. But, speaking as someone who always did care, when the heart left the business there was nowhere to go but down. And that spiral continues. And I'll watch it with a mixture of sadness and joy.

[Naptown Barista #2]

@Naptown Barista (way up top)

Where are you located in Indy?

[Borealis]

I think the thing that we all can agree on is that Starbucks has tried to stick its hands in where they don't belong (Music, Books, DVDs, Breakfast, whatever). From my standpoint as an employee, we need to phase out all of these things and get back to just SELLING COFFEE...I've been employed with this company off and on for almost 10 years (I've been here for a solid 5, now), and the change between then and now is incredible. In 1998, the coffee quality was first and foremost, and the service that you gave to customers was second to none. Now, all my DM seems to care about is whether or not all of my checklists are completed properly! The coffee quality is terrible (Christmas Blend has been renamed "Disappointment Blend" in my house) and it's all to capture that elusive "Joe Six-Pack" that's never going to set foot in a Starbucks to begin with! Get rid of the books. Get rid of these crazy awful pastries. Get rid of the sandwiches. Let us do our jobs and connect with our customers instead of getting bogged down with all of these menial tasks that make us crazy.
Wow. Sorry about that, guys, I guess I've been holding that in for a long time.

[The Barista of Nantucket]

Naptown Barista #2,

I completely agree with you 100%. I've been saying that we should get rid of all merchandise, stick it online and get back to making drinks. I took the idea one step further and think we should get rid of the fraps too. We are not a malt shop, and a frap is nothing but caffeinated ice cream in my opinion. We should be serving coffee and espresso, that's it! The conventional ovens need to go too. Walk into a subway or pizza hut next time you get a chance (from corp cutting the hours it looks like we will all have plenty) and take a look at the ovens, THEY ARE THE SAME EXACT BRAND!

So we are a pizza hut with caffeine products essentially.

Lower the prices of the drinks, get rid of the crap and lets get back to business people. This direction the companies taking us has only one true direction, DOWN.

[irateowl]

I previously worked for Starbucks for 9 months. I have worked in coffee for 5 years and my previous place of employment had gone under, I didn't want to leave the barista business and Starbucks just happened to be hiring and picked me right up. I became a mindless machine to their corporatism. I have no problems sparking up a conversation with a complete stranger, but Starbucks somehow managed to take over my personality and attempted to create an upselling monster, dictating every conversation I had with a customer. I was frequently being pushed to push the customer to BUY BUY BUY. That "legendary service" theory is a bunch of bs. I was reprimanded for complimenting a customers suit, they deemed it sexual harassment. When did "that is a very nice suit you have on today" become a sexual comment?

[K-Dog]

Posted by: | November 12, 2008 at 05:01 AM

Spot on analysis, I'm sad to say. As a partner of ten plus years who left in April, I believe it was the transition of middle management from a group largely composed of former store level partners - who "got it" - to corporate, ladder-climbing sycophants that rapidly decimated everything precious about the Starbucks Experience.

Further, I was amused by Howards's assertion during the conference call that earnings per share will be protected moving forward even if comps remain slightly negative. He said that "back room efficiencies" would keep earnings up. Based on everything I've read, heard, and learned from former contacts within the company, that "efficiency" seems based on the systematic removal of the longest serving partners who, of course, also earned the most and had the highest level of benefits. (I personally left with nine and a half weeks of unused sick time, four weeks unused vacation. And no, none of that time was paid out.) Needless to say, those were the partners with the greatest cultural memory at Starbucks, too; those who might have been able to refocus the company on what is most important for its future success. Also, in order to maintain that kind of "efficiency", either the benefits package will have to be redesigned to be far less costly, or partners who hit the ten year mark can count on being immediately put out on the nearest ice floe as their fat reward for their service.

[that_girl]

it's not true that licensed store baristas don't care. some of them don't, it's true, but during my six months as a target barista i did my darndest to always have the best drinks. and i'm not saying i was perfect -- i was only there six months, after all -- but the team leader for the starbucks worked her butt off and a lot of people said our drinks were better than the "real" starbucks down the street.

part of the problem is that target/other licensed stores have a lot of turnover, and in some cases the baristas are poorly trained or cross-trained too much, but it's not universally true. despite the fact that that job was a temporary measure for me, i was proud of the job i did there.

[sbuxmom]

I agree. I love making coffee drinks. That's why I would chose to work at a coffee shop to begin with. I love the coffee shop atmosphere. But having to crank out 16 Frappuccinos and 6 stinky breakfast sandwiches every time I turn around makes it a lot harder to still deliver quality and service to the customers who are waiting for their coffee to be made. Also, many of them are really tired of being asked if they would like a Piadini this morning. I guess there are more "Regis" people than not out there who just want a decent cup of coffee served by friendly people.

[former sm in ca]

Frapps have been around since 94, so I doubt that these are the problems. Borealis has it correct, as I started in 98, and nothing else mattered but our customers. You started and ended your day enthusiastically satisfying customers. It was an expectation then that you participated in community events...and I'm not talking about monetary support.

Now, things are different. I remember attending a meeting regional meeting in which we were told that all DTs had to read a script to every customer at the speakerbox. Wow...and the scary thing is out of 100 SMs, only 3 of us spoke out against this. This was back in 2005, and I decided to take a write up rather than de-humanizing my guests at their store.

The problem with sbux now is that any idea being brought forward is not being challenged by those who need to be speaking out. It's how idiotic ideas like the one above got passed down. People up there are managing through fear, and that's not how you will turn around a Company or treat your people.

[Ronald McStarbucks]

Hey hey my thickset friends!

The answer is cheerfully clear to me... merge with McDonald's and form the ultimate Voltron-esque one-stop mega-consumption venue: McStarbucks.

I have to hit two drivethrus these days to get my fixes satisfied (Big Mac and a quad piping hot latte). I'd save a lot of time going to one joint.

Think of it... a single barrista on duty for the froo-froo drinks and the rest of the register monkeys can pour the COTD and Pike's Place while serving up the fries. Overhead reduced everywhere!

I'm lovin' it!
Ronald McStarbucks

[Naptown Barista]

"@Naptown Barista (way up top)

Where are you located in Indy?"

South of the Circle, that's as far as I'll go. Glad that other Naptown's Finest are on the board!

[Naptown Barista]

Perusing this thread, I wonder if anyone of importance at corporate ever puts any stock in it. The feedback is pretty amazing. Some might call it "complaining", but "venting" is a far better word. If Howard ever took a gander at this and actually THOUGHT about some of this, Starbucks might not be in this mess. Everyone (customers & partners) seem to genuinely CARE about the place, but they feel they have nowhere else to share ideas. Maybe that's part of the problem. Remember the concept of "Servant Leadership"? It involved a corporate philosophy that worked from the ground, up. "What can the company do to help make stores successful?" That philosophy went out the window in '05, and went from top down. THAT's the real root of the problem. People IN THE STORES can spot a bad idea when they get TRAINED on something new, before it even GETS to the CUSTOMER. If they would only LISTEN to their footsoldiers....

[Seattle Paul]

Re: MO_barista

I'm surprised no one else has brought this up here. Fresh ground coffee doesn't mean it was ground hours or even minutes before; you have about 30 seconds after you grind the beans to make good coffee. Even with drip or french press, let alone expresso.

Starbucks started going downhill the moment they started pre-grinding their coffee. Now I can count on Starbucks for a decent Americano but that's about it. Go back to grinding the beans right before pulling the shot, using manual machines, get rid of any food other than pastries and the like, and the company will become healthy again, even if its smaller.

[Darleen]

Think of it... a single barrista on duty for the froo-froo drinks and the rest of the register monkeys can pour the COTD and Pike's Place while serving up the fries.

Calling someone a monkey does nothing to get your point across except make you look bad. When will folks learn that what you do to pay your bills does not DICTATE who you ARE????

[Darleen]

I want to reply to anonymous poster. I get it, I remember the good old days and we do have somethings in common here. We all remember how it was and miss that, I think that's where the anger starts to come into play. You can't help but get angry at watching something that you loved flush itself down the toilet so to speak. However, I hate to sound like a dreamer but I still believe that things can turn around. If only Howard would really listen to the partners that still love what they do and want their company to succeed. I couldn't agree with you more about the DM's not caring about the experience as much as the numbers their stores were pulling in. When I had to call my DM 3X a day to give her my Vivanno USD'S I knew it was time to go. Everytime I turned around there was a new checklist. It got to where all I did was fill out DCR'S, partner goal cards, DRN'S and all that time there were customers feeling like they also were a line on a P&L instead of guests in our stores. I know. I've shed a few too many tears for the company. As I'm sure a lot of us former partners have. What I'm trying to say is that if we didn't care so much, we wouldn't be here. I still find myself here, trying to keep what little connection I have with sbux. I feel a loss and it was a deep cut to my heart when I walked out of my store for the last time. I have never felt like that at any other job and doubt that I ever will again. It's taking me longer to get over Starbucks then it did my first husband! LOL.

[Darleen]

Naptown Barista,
Howard does read this website! He knows how all of you feel. My RDO said at one of my last meetings, "screw starbucksgossip" My jaw fell open. So much for constructive feedback huh? Although my RDO was (is) a buffoon. He came from Disney and I'm telling you he acted like a child at times. He would come into my sbux exp. classes while I was facilitating and just ramble away with my newbies, making no sense whatsoever and keep us there 45 minutes while he acted like a space cadet. I kid you not. The new partners would look at me with this look on their faces, like "Is this guy for real"? It was embarassing! It amazes me that they would actually hire someone that would act so unprofessionally. He would come into my store with his shirt untucked, trying to act like a teenager when he is in his 50's and well beyond hip. He'll most likely get promoted, it makes no sense to me.

[BAYAREABUX]

The answers are all here in this thread. If management had to sit down and think seriously about any thread on this website, they ought to come here. These various media articles that keep cropping up can only tell you how the front-end fell apart. SBUX has to acknowledge and take action on how the back-end fell apart, because you can't fix the first without the second.

The results from Partner View are out. Baristas said in resounding numbers, as they have on MSI, they're overstessed and underpaid. Make that way overstressed and way underpaid. (As a funny little anecdote, I know more baristas who have started smoking since working at SBUX than have quit! Ok, maybe not so funny.)

If the answer we get to this feedback is only "hey, our hands our tied, it's the economy," or, "sorry, can't help," there's no path to saving the company.

[Melody]

Darleen,
Who knows. How can he have time to read this site while running a billion dollar corporation? At best he must just scan it, of course, I don't know ... Of course we do know that definitely there are lots of SSC people reading this. Maybe they give him updates!! Readers' Digest versions? LOL. I'm just making this up now ... who knows!

But I saw this and wanted pass it along:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/retailreport/2008382539_retailreportdige12starbucks.html
^ I thought this is interesting - Mr. Alstead will be earning $450k a year in his new CFO position. You know, you can live very well in Seattle on that income! LOL. I suppose that's a normal income for a CFO.