Starbucks Gossip

"My son was fired last week from Starbucks for having tattoos..."

"He was hired with these tattoos and then they became an issue," Jennifer wrote on this site earlier in the week. "He kept them covered however he was still let go." I've seen Starbucks employees with tattoos (and bizarre holes in their ears, too), so this must be the case of a store manager dictating policy on his/her own. Correct? || Jump to the second page of comments.

I'll be enjoying a coffee or two at Starbucks on Christmas Day; will you?

Or will you be working there? In past years, I've frequented Starbucks stores in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and New York City on Christmas Day, and they were always packed. ...and customers seemed to tip well. What are your Christmas plans? || Jump to the second page of comments.

OPEN THREAD conversation-starter: Where are the pay-it-forward stories this year?

I'm surprised that I haven't seen any Starbucks drive-thru pay-it-forward stories this year. A few years ago, they were everywhere and I wondered if they were being manufactured by Starbucks PR. Do you have any pay-it-forward tales to report from this holiday season? Tell us -- or discuss anything else in the week-before-Christmas OPEN THREAD. || Jump to the third page of comments.

Are there any good ideas left to post on MyStarbucksIdea.com?

Starbucks launched MyStarbucksIdea.com over two years ago, and I'm sure that it's resulted in some innovation since then. But have any really good ideas surfaced on that site in recent months? (If so, please point them out.) Do you still check out the Ideas site? Oh -- and feel free to share your good idea in the comments section below.

Let's get the weekend OPEN THREAD going!

How are "The 12 Days of Sharing" daily deals going over at your store? Discuss this or anything else Starbucks-related in the OPEN THREAD.

A Starbucks employee offers "a few things you can do to hack the system"

Before you get all worked up, this employee is hardly a SBUX-basher -- and what he/she shares is hardly new to most people. The person writes: "Let me just say, that a lot of people don't understand why Starbucks drinks are so expensive. We hand-make everything. Well, not everything, but most of it. We make our own whipped cream, the Frappuccinos are hand made with real coffee and milk, teas are full leaf, the mocha is made fresh everyday and the Chai concentrate is all natural." || Read "STARBUCKS HACKS"

Kraft asks judge to stop Starbucks from ending their partnership

The fight between the two corporate giants is getting ugly. Starbucks offered Kraft $750 million to terminate their partnership, but Kraft declined. It says Starbucks is "proceeding with flagrant indifference to the terms of the contract." || Read "Starbucks and Kraft escalate battle over marketing pact"

Will Starbucks buy Peet's? Let's talk about it in the OPEN THREAD

There's a lot of chatter about Starbucks possibly acquiring Peet's -- a rumor fueled by Howard Schultz's statement this week that SBUX is interested in “buying large and small companies” to grow its consumer products business. Discuss this or anything Starbucks-related in the OPEN THREAD.

Judge rejects lawsuit against Starbucks over hot tea spill

Before throwing out the 25-year-old woman's claim, the judge told lawyers and courtroom spectators that "this is the kind of case where the court has to be careful to not rule impulsively. Everyone has heard of the McDonald's coffee case that became fodder for late night comedians." || Read "Judge dismisses claim against Starbucks"

I'm taking advantage of today's Starbucks packaged coffee deal...

Are your customers? In the Chicago-area stores, they're giving away one pound of coffee for every pound purchased. I'm assuing it's a North America-wide promotion, right?