"From the Comfy Chair": Friendly baristas, filthy place

BY "JUAN VALDEZ"

Starbucks
8842 S. Sepulveda Blvd
Los Angeles, California

I really, really, really wanted to like this store.

I really, really, really wanted to sing its praises.

After all, the partners in this cafe store were very friendly. And outgoing. And genuine. And it wasn't just me...it was the same for every customer that came in while I was there.

In fact, they even sang happy birthday to a customer which was very cute.

The partners laughed, they joked; there was an overall great vibe to the store which has been missing from most of my visits lately. Even with the continuous low rumble of landing jets wafting over from nearby LAX, I could see customers fight for this store if it were to end up on the store closure watch list. In fact, this was the kind of atmosphere I half expected to see when I visited the Ripon, California store a while back.

My latte tasted good, the pastry and cold cases were stocked and relatively clean. So what's your problem Juan? What's causing your angst?

The place was filthy. The garbage cans overflowed with garbage. The bathroom was dirty. The condiment bar was trashed. And no one did anything about it. 

Sure, right before one partner's break, he came out and wiped the condiment bar off. That was it. He then wandered out the door, leaving the lobby in the same dismal shape it was when he came out from behind the counter. And his three fellow partners didn't take one step toward the lobby the whole time I was there. 

Not to mention that a couple of the partners were sloppily dressed. There wore oversized shirts half pulled out from their pants which really looked untoward. In addition, aprons were wrinkled and dirty.

So, on the one hand, we have a warm, welcoming environment powered by partners who clearly care about their customers and who work to connect with those same customers.

And, on the other hand, we have those same partners who clearly aren't particularly worried about the way the store (or themselves for that matter) look.

So...which carries more weight? Certainly, we, the customers, would like to see a high level of both in play. But when one is over emphasized and the other under emphasized, how do we judge the store?

I happen to be a big proponent of the concept that you can teach attention to detail and associated concern for both how things look and how things run. It's very difficult, however, to teach people how to be warm, friendly and fun. It's either in their DNA or its not. Sure, people can fake it to some degree however during any moments of stress, their real selves will come out and, trust me, it's not a pretty sight to behold in some cases.

Therefore this store gets huge kudos for hiring people who connect with their customers and genuinely want to give them a good experience. Now they just have to be trained on the other aspects of their job.

Grade B

Time of day: early afternoon


# of partners on the floor: 4







Service time: 2 minutes



Business level: steady

Was the bathroom cleaner than a gas station bathroom?: No


Legendary service: Yes

Would I recommend to a friend: Yes – for the service

COLUMN STATS





* # of stores reviewed where a partner has tried to connect with a customer – 14 out of 32
* # of stores where they've offered samples of anything – 3 out of 32
* # of stores that could have been considered "understaffed" - 0 out of 32


* # of stores with a clean bathroom – 17 out of 32

"Juan Valdez" is the nom de cyber of a former Starbucks manager who became disenchanted with the increasingly bitter taste of the Starbucks experience and fled to the mountains of Colombia where he now rides his burro and ponders the glittering sunsets. On a crisp clear day, when atmospheric conditions are just right and the moon is in the seventh house, Juan can be reached at juanvaldezsbux@gmail.com

Comments

[anon]

Wow Juan - what a lesson in "what sells" in journalism! 18 hours after this article was posted and this is the first comment.

It's interesting to note that even the Union discussion has more comments even though they are geared toward the 1) Unions good vs. Unions bad and 2) U.S. vs. Canada comments and most of them have a negative tone.

It's a sign of the times and what generates interest on this site, but perhaps you'll have to start stirring up more controversy if you're looking for more comments. Perhaps you should make some snarky comment about tips ;-)

Thanks for the article.

[Barista Bob]

Baristas unite against Juan Valdez! He is trying to expose our ignorance of customers and our malicious intent to leave the stores in dirty conditions so as to chase potential customers away, and make the regulars feel uncomfortable. Starbucks is not, and never will be, the third place! Get a life people!

[CamSpi]

You know what would be a good idea? I might even put this on MSI even though it will be voted down... There should be a cleaning block A and B during training. Similar to how Espresso Bar is broken down to A,B, and C. The Cleanliness Block of training is usually the first thing the barista learns... so by the time training is over, they probably forgot all the important things it tells us to do... like simply cleaning the cafe and making sure it looks good from the customer perspective. The "newness" of everything might overshadow a lot of valuable material covered, too.

This might make Juan a little happier.

[SBUCKS DRONE LOS ANGELES]

I enjoy Juan Valdez's articles, but they're getting to be a little bit annoying. Just A LITTLE BIT. The store was dirty Juan, but you liked the partners. Cleanliness is perhaps one of the most important aspects of working at Starbucks, but the Legendary Service isn't taught. Sure, they ask us to be Legendary, but not all partners choose to do so. They partners, while they don't clean around much and should, still have that lost touch, that lost art known as Legendary Service. To me, at that given moment you went in there and experienced that, should have overshadowed everything else. Also, sometimes it seems to me like you whine just a little bit. A LITTLE BIT. I'll still continue to read your articles Juan, but maybe you should take a long break for now.

[Pat Nerr]

why doesn't anyone ever say this after these articles...

"crap, sorry Juan that you had a piss poor experience in one of our stores. Ya know what? We're gonna make it right. We're gonna do our best to fix that and we're sorry that store wasn't up to snuff... "

just sayin'...

[NOT JUAN]

@Pat Nerr: Here's the thing. It wasn't that long ago that people cared about the customer's total experience. Now we all have a specialty. Some people smile (but don't need to clean). Some folks mix the perfect drink (but don't need to like their customers). Some are only in it for the paycheck and the chance to bitch if somebody expects a well-rounded experience. It shows in the names they give themselves when commenting.

[brown dot]

Juan,
I love that you enjoyed the partners so much. Hopefully they will clean up their act so to speak and do more frequent slides. Maybe the manager was off that day and they felt they could do as they wish...

BTW I love your articles...just waiting for you to make it out to the cali desert...

[Dingo]

I tired of you partners leaving the stores a mess for we who support you!

[coffeelurker]

I enjoy the reviews. Especially on locations that I may have visited myself.

I don't work for Starbucks but I always treat customers as if they are a "mystery Shopper" That way I give great service to everyone (including the demanding cranky ones)

[L]

I enjoy the articles Juan! Its like you are a trained customer. You know exactly what to look for and exactly what the baristas should be looking for, and they cant whine "understaffed" because you know what that looks like as well! I wonder if you left completed values walks in the stores you visited, if they would be thrown away in disgust or if partners would take heed?

[cecil]

this is just out of balance. i work in a store that is always clean, but customer service is out the window. managers use their discretion for what they consider important, rewardable behavior, and honestly, i'd rather be at a "dirty" store with unkempt baristas that honestly know how to connect, than a store of ice cold recluses that know how to keep a clean store. give us a break juan. because i garantee you would be giving a lower grade to a store with the opposite problem.