Weekend OPEN THREAD: Anything left to discuss? You bet!

In recent days, we've covered the issues of stolen newspapers, "undercover" Starbucks stores, union drives, and store bombings. What's left to talk about? You decide in the open thread, where anything Starbucks-related is open to discussion. || Jump to the second page of comments.

Comments

[Jeff]

How about Starbucks insulting tweet to their celiac customers? They recently introduced a nice gluten free almond cake and are promptly discontinuing it. Instead of telling us celiacs flat out that the thing is not selling, they snidely inform us that the reason they are no longer carrying it is that "its too much of a treat" and has to be replace with a healthy Kind bar. Celiacs can't have treats? I feel like a bad dog. "No treats for you, celiac scum! Starbucks knows what is good for you, now shut up and eat your Kind bar." Woof!

[Melody]

Have we talked about free pastries on July 21st yet? I think that's kind of cool. Well, for sure customers will like it; who knows how much it costs Starbucks. I'll take a free morning bun warmed up please! :)

http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/archive/2009/07/16/free-pastry-day.aspx

^ Link in my name too

[Em]

What's up with this free pastry day on July 21st? Free coupons can be printed here (link from the Official Starbucks Corporate Facebook page):

http://www.starbucks.com/retail/print_free_pastry.html

The Facebook group already has 110,000 confirmed "RSVP"s and counting.

Did Starbucks learn nothing from the Denny's and Kentucky Fried Chicken freebie debacles????

[Em]

Weird Melody - we posted at the same time. Funny.

[Thought of the Day]

Free Pastry Offer: Read the small print...."until 10:30am or until pastries are gone"....And So how many are they really giving away? And just how many customers are going to walk away disappointed? Promotions like this, IMHO, do not create goodwill; for many, this promotion will leave a bad taste in their mouth.

[Thought of the Day]

If you do read the small print on the coupon you will also notice: "Gluten-Free Valencia Orange Cake" is Included. HUH?

[Bearded Barista]

I don't see how you think this promo is gonna be a bad idea. It's gonna bring in a ton of customers, who still have to buy a drink to get the free pastry. Granted, giving away all those pastries is gonna cost, but if it brings someone in a couple of days a week to buy a new favorite pastry, how is that a loss?

[seventysix [76]]

Jeff, the Kind bars are actually pretty good. I like the Fruit and Nut bar the most.

I am excited about these neighborhood pilot stores! I'd love to work for Starbucks in a brandless café on a manual machine, serving beer and wine. Where do I sign up?

[cookie monster]

so, no cookies???

:-(

[James the Barista]

What about the Free Pastry Day?

'Tuesday, the 21st, is #FreePastryDay w/ drink purchase! http://bit.ly/2uxSxI Real Food, Simply Delicious (Participating US stores only)' -Starbucks Twitter Account

Let's talk about that! Is this a rerun of the Iced Coffee coupon?

[Still Bleeds Green]

I completely agree with Thought of the Day on the Free Pastry's. It isn't just show up and get a free pastry.... it's... you have to buy a drink to get a pastry. If anything, our store's sales that day should be amazing and our Food UPH's out the roof.
If I get just a few new regular customers out of the deal, then the promotion will be a success for me.

[CamSpi]

Are they just sending us a ton of extra pastries that day? How is it going to work?

[i know, right?]

CampSpi - they're sending a set amount based on your current food sales. My 16K a week DT is getting 120 extra pastries. All will be labeled "Food Event" and once those particular pastries are gone, you're done. None of our regular daily pastries are part of it. Make sense?

[OR SM]

Don't be so sure, "I know". We are encouraged to push the items they send, but they can choose from any pastry they want!

[Tamster]

Hey does anyone know where Starbucks gets their chilled foods (i.e. salads, fruit, yogurts) from? I tried to ask but was told it was from a "logistics" company, whatever that means.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

This is the real BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL. AM I still banned. Can't the homeless use the newspapers to keep warm?

[Jeff]

Bearded Barista-many celiacs have a Kind bar somewhere on their person or in their car (unless they are allergic to nuts). Everyone I know buys them by the case from Amazon. They're one of several "emergency foods" in the celiac toolkit. Offering Kind bars to celiac is kind of like offering MREs to Marines in Iraq. I know I've eaten a few tons of them over the years. :)
As far as the free pastry promotion mentioning the gf cake-they're supposed to keep selling the gluten free cakes until the stock is gone, but are not making any more. I still don't understand why they did not market a flourless chocolate cake or gluten free brownie. Those taste good enough for non-celiacs and are cheap to produce.

[javabuz]

Anyone know how long you can leave Starbucks and be rehired at the same pay rate? I think its like 30 or 60 days? I need to take a small LOA, but want to keep my pay rate and pretty sure I can be hired back. Just want to know my options.

[brown dot]

You can take a personal LOA for up to 30 days without leaving the company.

[blarg]

Today was my last day. I start working for a competitor on monday! wheeeeeeee!

[white_knight]

congrats blarg.

glad you found an alternative way of income, im on the tippin point with starbucks!

[Elizabeth]

Is it true that Starbucks will only compensate you for pay if you take off longer than three days? So why try to be a good worker and come back early..or if you are really injured make sure you get to work the next day because you aren't getting paid, guess thats the message they are sending!

[gmreat]

Elizabeth,
there is a three day waiting period before short term disability benefits kick in. sbuxben requests that you exhaust your vacation hours during those days to cover your loss. After that, with some paperwork filled out by you and your physician you receive up to 2/3 of your average pay for the duration of your disability leave. bottom line, if you don't work you do not receive your full pay.

[Beer and Wine]

I love the Beer and Wine Idea, That Starbucks plans on Selling now....
so when I close the store at night, I mark out the bad bottles....yay for me...

[GIVE EM ANOTHER]

Are there going to be strippers serving drinks at least,?? that would make the booze-bux awesome!!

[me myself and I]

Does this mean no more high school kids as baristas? They are not allowed to sell alcohol, right?

I would love to get a nice beer at night as my partner beverage. Mmmh.

[stacy]

Have we talked about free pastries on July 21st yet? I think that's kind of cool. Well, for sure customers will like it; who knows how much it costs Starbucks.

It's great from a customer standpoint. However from the barista/shift standpoint, stuff like this is exactly why Starbucks "can't afford" to pay us more.

[Melody]

I would guess that these are precisely the kind of promos that are far more expensive than the little 40 cent syrup arguments that have the potential of repelling customers. And who knows how much it costs Starbucks to give away thousands and thousands of pints of ice-cream. ??

On MSI the outrage over Starbucks pulling the GF pastry just blows me away. It's been on the menu for 3 months. So what did all these customers do before the pastry? And why do they expect that Starbucks will behave like General Mills or Betty Crocker (FOOD businesses).

But even more bewildering to me, if you know anything about Starbucks, you know they are fickle!!! The pastries change so fast all the time! No one should have expected that the pastry was going to be on the menu for a long time! There's probably some replacement in the works for that 1% of the population. Starbucks can be very fickle - I'm sure all of here could an amazing episode of just citing all the times that Starbucks does one thing and then changes their minds 3 months later (shot glasses anyone?).

[Jeff]

I didn't expect the cake to last, but I did not expect them to be so snotty and condescending about pulling it. That "treat" crap rubbed people sooo far the wrong way-after a huge amount of build up and promo in the celiac community, they just tell us that they are removing the product because its...well, a yummy cake. Now go eat some twigs, ya whining freaks.
This is a lot of celiacs very first experience with Starbucks. We simply do not go where we can't safely eat. Before the cake, I went to McDonalds and had a sundae. Now I'll go back to McDonalds.
Man, if this is the way they interact with their customer base, what do they do with you employees-beat you in some sub basement under the store???

[oh no again]

Starbucks tried a bistro/cafe concept at least once before, around ten years ago, in San Francisco and Palo Alto, CA, named Circadia. They served sandwiches, pizza, and a variety of other foods. They also had entertainment and a full bar. Due to alcohol being served, all partners had to be 18 or over. Circadia did not openly promote themselves as Starbucks, but did not deny it either. There were "subtle" clues like the branded hot cups and the logo in the window. Circadia tried to be local and relevant, tried to bring in top performing personnel, tried to be uber cool. At first it was fairly successful, as a novelty perhaps. But in a short time all the regular pressures of a "new" restaurant/bistro business crept up. Things like competition, hiring borderline entertainment, employee relations issues and not having plans to effectively deal with the changing business environment. Panic set in and the company tried to throw money at it. Then they tried to cut their overhead. Sound familiar?
They still went belly up, leaving a bad taste in peoples mouths and a serious loss on investment.

Do I want the new venture to fail? No. But more than attempting something "new" that could really backfire on us, what I would really like to see is some needed stability in the existing structure. Quit changing focus every month, quit finding new ways to handicap the operations. Stick to the basics (like two or three varieties of coffee available all day and whole bean menu boards) and allowing enough labor to keep the service up to our once legendary standards. We have to stop micro-managing our stores,let them return to being the local coffee shops they once were, not try to reinvent the experience under an unbranded facade. The chameleon logic and quest for the next frappuchino miracle is KILLING us!

Respectfully,

An old partner

[marcus]

I thought those orange valencia cakes were rather clever and pretty good! I'm not celiac, but my sister is,and I often end up eating a lot of gluten free foods anyhow cos our whole family kind of switched over, and I thought using orange pulp as a type of flour was really clever. too bad they're gone. I felt so bad for my sister the other day because we almost never get her to go out with us (she's a bit antisocial with the family at her age) and we all got pastries and she asked for the orange cake as I had told her about it, and they said they didn't have any. I just assumed they sold out. It's not too fun to eat a pastry in front of someone who can't. Never heard of the kind bars, will have to look them up.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

I think somebody did the math that if there are 1% celiacs in the US
and if 50 million customers a week come to Starbucks, then that means
500,000 are celiacs and maybe 50,000 of them will buy the valencia
cake.

[is it so hard to be civil]

There is a customer that orders a grande double cupped of hot water and a tea bag on the side. Then they demand to pay the add tea bag price. They will leave if they don't get their way without anything.

[Aces of Eight]

Then they can leave. Their is a limit to Just Say Yes, and a limit to what you should tolerate from people who patronize your business. If they are a leech, they need to be politely told their bad behavior simply will not fly.

[green_cup]

Have we talked about free pastries on July 21st yet? I think that's kind of cool. Well, for sure customers will like it; who knows how much it costs Starbucks.

It's great from a customer standpoint. However from the barista/shift standpoint, stuff like this is exactly why Starbucks "can't afford" to pay us more.

Posted by: stacy | July 17, 2009 at 10:14 PM

Yeah, but here's the thing: you're there to serve your customers, not to serve yourselves. Please learn this. Now, while I have not agreed with so many other free-giveaways Starbucks has done, for some reason, a lot of folks have taken to the "new food" Starbucks has recently pushed. Starbucks is capitalizing on this and, for once, I think it's smart. It's a tiny little investment into what could potentially be return customers. I really think serving good pastries (not the sandwiches, but food that pairs well with coffee [scones, coffee cake, etc]) is a core basic for Starbucks.

I can see your point, but you're there to make your customers happy first and yourself (the employee) second. If you aren't happy at Starbucks, regardless if it's the pay or whatever, you know what you can do. Leave. Go find another job that suits you better, but don't make your customers suffer with bad food, bad service and bad coffee.

--------------------------------------

@Posted by: Jeff | July 17, 2009 at 08:14 AM RE: Celiac

I'd love to see what the percentage of customers Starbucks has that is celiac. Maybe they weren't selling well. Why should they need to cater to such a small group of folks and keep an unprofitable item on the menu?

Now, if you were offended by their remarks, I'd say get over it. Who should be offended by Starbucks is Melody and the bold drinkers. That's a much larger percentage of Starbucks' customer base that's not getting their requests met. How about this: Starbucks can get bold back to a open to close availability status and then we can deal with the celiacs in the capacity you seem to think they should. It's not like they just completely ignored you. They put out the Kind Bars, of which are pretty decent. Further, they're much better for you health-wise than that orange cake anyway.

[me myself and I]

Kindly ask them to buy a box of tea. At least this is what we do with regulars who do come and buy other stuff, too. If they only come for the tea bag and leave again, let them leave. Starbucks, like any other for profit business in this world, does not allow customers to decide what they like to pay.

It is called "ADD tea bag" because you would have to add it to something.

[marcus]

To green cup--the orange valencia cake was quite high in both protein and fiber (9 g protein, 4 g fiber) which is superior to Starbucks oatmeal (5 g protein, 4 g fiber). It was made primarily with whole eggs and orange pulp. And it was not only for a celiac market--it happened to be gluten free. It was just your basic ambrosia cake with a twist. A lot of health conscious people including myself would prefer a product made without heavily processed flours. And in fact on days I was feeling like being more healthful (than on those where I might have selected say a donut), I opted for the orange cake with tea.

Overall though, I can see why gluten free products fail in the market--they often do taste worse. However, living in a family with a person who has celiac and a mother who is a fabulous baker, I know that you can create amazing things that *no one* would ever guess were gluten free. And the orange valencia cake was one of those in between products where it was not earth shattering, but it was a very good attempt from a major corporation. Certainly more exciting than most of the scones Starbucks has!

[drive]

I have a problem with a lot of the recent promotions. They indicate that Sbux is NOW so great by comparing it to Sbux in the past when it sucked.

The ads all say the coffee and pastries used to suck but now they are better. When they did the big training day, that was an admission that their training and personnel policies sucked. Introducing Pike Place basically says the old coffee sucked.

Are these promotional tactics effective? Does it work to say customers should now patronize Sbux because it is better than it used to be....that Sbux sucked during all those big growth days when the stock soared and stores opened all over?

This strikes me as both weird and distasteful.

[th]

@ drive, i see your cup is half empty.

[jeezlouise]

Don't take it personal, Jeff. They never cared about anyone with celiac disease, they just wanted to appear that they did.

[me myself and I]

as they always do...

[Big Apple]

kindbars are the best!

[CamSpi]

I do not like cadence with two people and three coffees. It simply doesn't work.

If a person doesn't reset the 8 minute button, all the coffees are thrown off. There are a million variables that can throw it off. Somebody not switching signs correctly. 7 customers ordering venti bolds in a row, but you only brew a half batch... and if we were out of coffee 23% of the time... our backs are now turned to customer 33% more than before because we're bending, scooping, grinding, clinging, bopping, folding filters, dumping, moving brewer A to Satelite C, and B to D, and D to B and C to A, etc. I like it... but only if there is a floater present to maintain it.

Today a coworker made the analogy that cadence is like the TV show LOST. You press a button ALL the time, or its the end of the world.

And I'm sick of two person morning rushes. I'm sick of low scores for friendliness on Customer Voice when I know my store is more capable. I AM FRUSTRATED! I'm tired of choosing to have clean dishes or do breaks. I'm sick of choosing the latter. And I'm sure you're sick of me whining! LOL! So I'll stop. I'm just venting. :D I don't understand why I can love a part-time job so much, but be so frustrated with it at the same time.

One things for sure... I wish (Red) was available as a mark out because I love it so much. That is one good coffee! Maybe one day it'll be a bold pick for a week!

[Christin]

"It's great from a customer standpoint. However from the barista/shift standpoint, stuff like this is exactly why Starbucks "can't afford" to pay us more."

The thing is that this is a one time investment, and investment that will potentially create a larger customer base, or a higher average ticket from people buying pastries from now on, or both! Well worth it, and the company has probably done the math over and over again to ensure it's worth the investment. Giving every one a pay raise is an ongoing cost that increases our labor costs permanently. How can you even compare the two?

[stacy]

@green_cup
I understand what you're saying and that's normally what I've always believed. But when I'm pressured into doing an ASM job at shift pay, that's bullshit. I'm not asking to get paid some outrageous wage. I just want to be fairly compensated for the job I do. Anyone else is this world wants the same thing. I'm definitely in the middle of looking for another job because I'm tired of the ridiculous excuses and straight out lies Starbucks has been feeding everyone for the past couple of years.

[Christin]

"@green_cup
I understand what you're saying and that's normally what I've always believed. But when I'm pressured into doing an ASM job at shift pay, that's bullshit. I'm not asking to get paid some outrageous wage. I just want to be fairly compensated for the job I do. Anyone else is this world wants the same thing. I'm definitely in the middle of looking for another job because I'm tired of the ridiculous excuses and straight out lies Starbucks has been feeding everyone for the past couple of years."

How can you be pressured into the asm responsoblities? The asm postition is essentially a shift who is LEARNING how to be a store manager. It's a training position. 99% of what the ASM does can and should also be done by shifts. That's why shift supervisors passwords give access to almost everything the ASM passwords give access too.

If you are not being "fairly compensated" and have such a bad taste in your mouth, go ahead and find another job. Sounds like that is what you should be doing.

[A Customer]

What makes you think Starbucks is paying for the pastry for the 7/21 event?

I would wager a bet that your suppliers are picking up the tab so don't whine about the company having to pay for it so you can not get paid more.

I just got my invite and I will be there!

[seriously]

@CamSpi, well said on the cadence issue! "and if we were out of coffee 23% of the time... our backs are now turned to customer 33% more than before" This is my biggest gripe! It would be sweet to watch all the important people who came up with this plan to actually do it themselves and I don't mean in a perfect setting, I mean in the real world setting.

[jeezlouise]

Ugg, civil, I feel for you. It's a tall tea, whether you add the bag or not. I'd be happy if that P.I.T.A. didn't come back. I'd just do it for kicks, to see them get bent out of shape over a cup of tea. Oh, to have such small problems...

[Transatlantic]

Yeah, those weird shortcuts that people take.....and expect to get a 50-cent drink for. Bleh.