Starbucks Gossip

OPEN THREAD conversation-starter: 'Starbucks is HEMORRHAGING management,' says emailer

"I'm emailing you from a dummy account because I don't trust anyone anymore," says an emailer to Starbucks Gossip. "But, I assure you, District Managers, Regional Directors and Store Managers are leaving the company in droves as the economy improves. Wages have been stagnate for a few years now. The work piles on, the hours to do them in disappear. Some one should know." Is this true? Alarmist? Exaggerated? Where are these managers going in this still-lousy job market? Discuss this or anything else Starbucks-related in the OPEN THREAD.

Starbucks releases its first card with Braille lettering

The new card's release was timed to National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October. "National disability leaders made this recommendation to us a few years ago at a community symposium," says a Starbucks Diversity Program Manager. "Our Starbucks Access Alliance initiated the idea with our Card team and helped make it happen." (Years later, it should be noted.) Have you received requests for these cards from your customers?
> "Starbucks releases a card with Braille lettering"

Skip your Starbucks stop on Thursday morning and head to 7-Eleven

They're serving free coffee! Here's what the 7-Eleven people sent me:

You'll be excited to know that this Thursday, September 29th, 7-Eleven is celebrating National Coffee Day with a Free Cup of Joe for all patrons between the hours of 7-11 a.m., naturally. 7-Eleven stores nationwide will give away a free medium-size cup of hot coffee, cappuccino or latte while supplies last.

CNBC's 'The Coffee Addiction' premieres Thursday, Sept. 29

Howard Schultz is one of the coffee execs interviewed for the CNBC documentary, which airs at 9 p.m. ET Thursday. Here's how the business network describes the program:

The coffee addiction is not an understatement. Americans crave their daily fix and drink an estimated 400 million cups a day. But, coffee is so much more than just a drink. As one of the most actively traded commodities, coffee is now a multibillion-dollar global industry. CNBC’s Wapner captures this cultural obsession, taking viewers behind the scenes to meet the Starbucks taster-in-chief, a man who slurps, smells, and sloshes his way through hundreds of coffee blends and flavors to decide what millions of customers will drink. The program delves into the science behind caffeine’s effect on the human body, takes cameras to the frenzied trading pit where coffee prices are set, and profiles professional baristas who’ve turned the act of brewing coffee into an art form.

Will you be buying an $85 Starbucks T-Shirt with coffee stain "art"?

Starbucks has teamed up with designer Alexander Wang to mark its 40th anniversary with the limited edition shirt that has the Starbucks' mermaid concealed within the fake stain. Wang told InStyle magazine that his inspiration was “what everyone tries to avoid – spilled coffee on a T-shirt."
> Read "Starbucks peddles fake coffee-stained T-shirts for $85"

Cake Batter Frappuccino and more items from the Starbucks "secret menu"

A Washington D.C. blogger grabbed a list of "secret" drink offerings -- including Zebra Mocha, Chocolate Dalmation, and Captain Crunch Frappuccino -- and stopped by various Starbucks stores to see if the baristas could make the drinks. She wrote after completing her little adventure: "Based on my experience, the [secret drinks] guide could be more accurately titled, 'How to bewilder the barista and alienate the rest of the line just trying to get coffee.' But that's a little long." DISCUSS THIS OR ANYTHING ELSE STARBUCKS-RELATED in the weekend OPEN THREAD.

Barista fired after 'Starbucks Rant Song' goes viral

Christopher Cristwell, who sang about his disgruntled Starbucks colleagues and mocked fussy customers in his "Starbucks Rant Song," was fired in the middle of his shift Tuesday afternoon in Chowchilla, Calif. "In a way, I did [Starbucks] a favor," says the 25-year-old ex-barista. "I saw this as the only way those of us on the lowest rungs of the ladder can make any changes. They obviously didn't see me as a threat because they let me work for a week since my first meeting with human resources." (Christwell commented on his video on this site earlier this month.) His rant prompted dozens of other comments from Starbucks Gossip readers, including:
* The part about latinos with extra caramel frappuccinos is soooo true. =) I almost died laughing at that part.
* It was HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh so true. After kissing butt all day long everyone has the need to vent. He does it in such a comedic way.
* The funny thing is how this guy comes off like a judgmental prick for being angry at people who come in and expect him to... you know... do his job.
> Jump to the second page of comments.
> Starbucks fires the barista behind "The Starbucks Rant Song"

OPEN THREAD conversation-starter: Should a guy be embarrassed to order a Pumpkin Spice Latte?

One of my male Facebook friends posted that he was looking forward to getting a Pumpkin Spice Latte today, and somebody then commented: "I'm taking away your MANcard!" I guess I never thought of ordering a PSL being similar to asking for an umbrella drink at the local bar. What's the female-male ratio for PSL orders? Guys, do you order PSLs without shame? Discuss PLS and MANcards, or anything Starbucks-related in the OPEN THREAD.

Why would a Starbucks in Hawaii sell Ecuadoran bananas?

It doesn't make sense, says Chris Turner, when you consider that Hawaii produces 15,000 tons of bananas every year. Yet the Starbucks stores there sell $1 Dole bananas from Ecuador.

Turner writes:

You could walk from the Waimea Starbucks to a farm that could supply the place with a tray of much tastier bananas for less than a buck apiece. You could put a bigger sign on the tray – FRESH LOCAL BANANAS!!! – and make them seem not like an afterthought but a treat. You could pair one with a cup of top-notch Kona, call it the Big Island Special. Charge me a buck extra, and I’d probably still buy that over the Pike Place blend and whatever indifferent pastry is on offer.

Of course, that makes too much sense for a large corporation.
> Read "Why would a Hawaiian coffee shop import bananas from Ecuador?

Indie coffee shop evicted to make room for Starbucks No. 188 in Manhattan

For the last year, the Bean has been on a month-to-month lease for its space on Third Street and First Avenue in New York. The owners tried without success to extend it, and late last month they received a 30-day notice to vacate so a Starbucks store -- the 188th in Manhattan -- could move in. Jim Dwyer of the New York Times writes:

By the time Starbucks has rebuilt the corner of Third Street and First Avenue to meet its quality standards for hospitable monotony, the Bean will be flying its flag about 100 yards south.

This time, Mom & Pop are fighting back.

"We're moving across the street," [co-owner Ike] Escava said. He was sitting on the Bean's street benches and pointed across First Avenue and down a block, to the corner of Second Street. "That place has been empty for a long time."

Read "Evicted for Manhattan Starbucks No. 188, Shop Fights Back" || Related story