Starbucks Gossip

VIA sales will skyrocket when the kids find out about this!

A letter to Starbucks Gossip

WILLIAM W. writes:

I'm on cough medicine right now (dayquil) and while cough medicine can make one loopy, it doesn't do so for me routinely.

BUT - and I swear this is a sincere e-mail, if you take dayquil (regular dosage) and then you drink a flavored VIA coffee (I think mine is cinnamon) you will get hit with a tremendous buzz. It's not a caffeine buzz, and it's not an alcoholic buzz, but it's a fuzzy feeling in the front of your face.

This has happened to me three times now.

Has anyone else had this experience? Let us know!

Ouch!: WSJ reviewer says 'the smell of self-congratulation overwhelms Howard Schultz's book'

"Author" Howard Schultz takes a bit of a beating in the Wall Street Journal for writing a book that's "unabashedly promotional and replete with red-white-and-blue motivational maxims." Reviewer Roger Lowenstein also writes:
* "Among his grandiose conceits is to compare the cultural influence of Starbucks with that of the Beatles and to refer to his employees as "partners." They aren't really partners, as many discovered when Mr. Schultz closed 600 stores beginning in 2008."
* "As a storyteller, he has served up a drink with too much foam." || Read "Book Review -- "Onward"

Schultz scolds Couric (with a laugh) for mentioning $5 coffee at Starbucks

Howard Schultz was promoting his book on "CBS Sunday Morning" this morning, and Katie Couric suggested that people, at the height of the recession, "maybe they couldn't spend $5 on their coffee every day."
SCHULTZ (LAUGHING): "Katie, it's not $5. Let's get that right. It's $1.50!"
COURIC: "For these fancy coffee drinks that people are addicted to, it's a lot more than $1.50."
He said that Starbucks lost its way during the Jim Donald era -- he didn't mention the former CEO's name -- and confessed that the company was focused only on growth and not quality. || Read "Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is all abuzz"

Let's get the weekend OPEN THREAD going!

Talk about whatever -- drinks, customers, colleagues, rumors; as long as it's Starbucks-related, it's up for discussion.

Does the average customer order just one Starbucks Petite?

Or do they favor two-packs, or even a three-pack or more to make a meal out of it? I was eyeing the tiny offerings in my neighborhood Starbucks and thinking, I can't see your average overweight American ordering just one of these per visit? Am I right -- or wrong?

Here's what came out of today's Starbucks annual meeting

* Starbucks will start selling the Keurig brewing system in its own stores in 2012.
* Howard Schultz said Starbucks' consumer packaged-goods business could one day rival its retail business in revenue.
* The Starbucks Digital Network will add access to more websites, including The Economist, ESPN Insider Rumor Center, Marvel Digital Comics and Mediabistro.
* Chief financial officer Troy Alstead told the crowd: "We are now playing from a position of strength"
* Read AP's story on the meeting || Read Starbucks' account

Starbucks holds its annual shareholders meeting

You can follow Starbucks beat reporter Melissa Allison's tweets here. || Read her annual meeting story.

"A Starbucks barista gets more training than an ad agency staffer"

"Perhaps this isn’t that surprising given how little agencies—and their holding companies—invest in training, especially compared to other talent-driven companies," writes an Adweek magazine reporter. || Read "Why the average barista gets more training than most agency staffers"

Howard Schultz pockets his biggest bonus ever -- $3.5 million

The higher reward -- he got $1 million the year before -- reflected the company's performance last fiscal year, says Starbucks spokesman Alan Hilowitz. Discuss this or anything else Starbucks-related in this weekend's OPEN THREAD. || Read "Executive Bonuses Bounce Back" || Jump to the second page of comments.

Consumerist readers react to rumors about Starbucks buying Peet's

Some are funny, and some are very right-on. I especially like this observation:
I'm slowly losing my coffee choices.

Seattle's best bought by Starbucks
Coffee People bought by Starbucks
Torrefazione Italia bought by Starbucks
Diedrich Coffee bought by Starbucks
and now Peet's Coffee?

As a consumer I feel they are buying up my choices || Read Is Starbucks Buying Peet's Coffee?