Stampedes? Riots? Or just another Wednesday?: How did the free-coffee promotion go at your store?

I hit two Evanston Starbucks stores while the free coffee was being given out. The Chicago Ave./Main St. store was slow, while the downtown store on Sherman Ave. was hopping. What happened in your stores?

Comments

[Happy Customer]

I just went to my local starbucks, and as soon as I walked up to the counter they offered me the free coffee (which I gladly took) There seemed to be alot of people getting the free coffee. The store was not crowded. I was wondering, so you think they offer this freebies if you go to the drive-thru also?

[Consumatron.com]

I stopped at the Wicker Park, Chicago Starbucks on the corners of North, Damen and Milwaukee at about 10:30 this morning. Two guys at the little bar seating area by the window, another at the one table and about 4-5 people in line ahead of me. The whole time I was in there, my girlfriend and I were the only two people to get the free coffee. Everyone else was buying lattes, pastries, etc..

Here's a review of my experience: Link

[TWM]

I stopped by the SBX in downtown Geneva, Illinois at around 1pm -- the baristas said it was busy during the free coffee hours, but not crazy.

They did say they were grateful that the promotion started after morning rush and finished before lunchtime.

p.s. My thanks to the barista at the SBX in Wheaton, Illinois, who recommended I try my soy-no-water-chai with pumpkin spice. Outstanding.

[TG]

Twas just a little bizzier than usual at my area store ... and meanwhile here's some other reports from the area

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

My store was most busy, but other stores reported hardly any business. Odd! However, the worst case scenario did occur and the all four fundamentals of coffee were broken!

[hazardbliss]

Our store was super busy, but not INCREDIBLY over busy.. I swear, this better only happen once a year! Im exhausted!!

[sbuxmanager]

Not too bad. We gave away 220 free coffees. Much less than I expected. It was almost a normal day.

[Miss Jersey Manager]

Our store served free mini rasberry scones and quartered sandwiches along with the tall cups of Verona. A local newspaper, the Starledger, got involved too and "donated" 50 papers to give away. Overall, a great success! People loved it! Also, sorry on behalf of our company to the comment poster that said he was 15 mins late to recieve the free stuff. We're supposed to "Just Say Yes" and give it to you anyway because that's what would have made you a satisfied customer.

[MochaMomma]

We did brisk business in Framingham, MA...we gave a lot of coffee travelers out at local businesses, too.

It was pretty much busy all day.....we had a few stragglers early in the afternoon who got free scones & drip as well...just say "Yes!"

[JP]

It was nuts in downtown San Francisco - I was only in there for 2 minutes and 10-15 coffees were given away - this was around 11:00.

[Mike Whalen]

I went to the drive-thru at my Starbucks in Billerica, MA. While ordering, the barista told me that they were offering free coffee, but that I had to come in to get it. I declined and paid for my order at the drive-thru. I'm a long-time customer. The people at that store know me. So, I thought it a little odd that I couldn't get the free cup at the drive-thru. It was an odd rule, methinks. But whatever, I'm not sweating it. Honest.

Cheers,

Mike...

http://www.thecomputervalet.com/blog

[QC Latte]

Was that today? Darn, I had the day off. ;-)
I'm sure I'll hear all about it tomorrow when I get there...

[xcat]

we had a line out the door at 10 til, and the shift on duty made the free coffee people wait in a separate line until 10. the people not waiting for free coffee could go to the front of the line and order, but the other folks had to wait. we gave out tons of coffee, and as far as i know, it didnt really slow down until 12, when the promo was over. apparently in our town, free coffee is worth waiting for. sad what amuses us.

[Pacific NW Bargal]

Our store was packed and it was quite fun :) We served out of the new 10-cup machine, along with a Cambro and regular brewers-- sales were quite up from a usual Wednesday, that is for sure-- and we had scheduled my Asst. Manager and myself for extra coverage, which was very very helpful :)

The sbux near my work (diversey/sheffield in Lincoln-Park Trixie-land) was relatively busy--at least a few minutes after 10 a.m. I don't know about the rest of the morning.

What's with this ides-of-march freebie? is it the first time? is it an attempt to try to measure the effectiveness of an ad campaign? do studies show that if you give away 12 oz of coffee, you get lots of good feelings and good business in return?

[Harmaa]

I'd meant to check out the Chicago/Main store, but actually ended up missing out on that.

I actually work for a Barnes and Noble cafe (kind of like your creepy half-cousin, I suppose), but I was curious to see how the promotion was going.

[Lucky H]

I strolled in about 4pm for my afternoon jolt, hours after the end of the promo. The person in line behind me asked about it, they told him it actually took place this morning but gave him a free 12oz anyway.

200+ free cups given away...only about 50 thank you's. People are greedy.

[James the Barista]

We sampled sandwhichs, gave out tall brews and sampled pastries. I demoed the Delonghi Magnifica (Super Automatic Espresso Machine) our store already sold two within the the first two days of the brewing sale.

[J Bosquez]

As I stroll in with anticipation, I am eager to acquire my Venti of Full Bodied coffee. I almost received a taste test of the new Black Apron Rwanda coffee that was availble - darn just missed it as they just ran out. So, I decided to take about an hour and a half off from work to enjoy that atmoshpere and a good book (The Big Moo - edited by Seth Godin). Boy, are there some jewels in that book. After finishing up the book, I decided to inquire about additional coffees. "Can I bear gifts to fellow coworkers.", I say. The Barista then replies, "How many?". I arbitrarily decided on three (considering I just had a Venti and soon to be wired). The Barista then said that would be a possibility. But she, did not stop there. She insisted that if I am going to be bearing gifts (in her words "[Starbucks] would be bearing the gifts"), I should buy a pack of four cupcakes. Attempting to get out of her offer I say, "I do not know them that well". Upon her persistence...I strike a deal with her. "Give me four and I will purchase the cupcakes of four", the logic being completing the set (This shows how much of a dumb consumer I am). What deal! There is no deal! She got off with a sale of $6 and some change, and I came our of it with FOUR FREE COFFEES. Did you get that? It cost her nothing because it was free anyway.

I came to appreciate her persistence as an employee, possibly manager. Lesson Learned: These are the kind of people I want to work with, innovators seeking opportunity in the marketplace. She could have just simply given me the free coffee. But she didn't. She did something. She reached out. What if you and I reach out...What would be the result? There is only one way to find out.

[A random human]

I just started working at starbucks and I'm in kinda a smaller town, but it was busier than I've seen in my whole four days of working there. My store had a large display of various barista coffee makers making the free joe. A couple employees were in that day with the sole purpose of just showcasing the barista machines, offering the free coffee at the drive through and lobby, and cleaning out the machines for those hours the freebies were featured. One of my fellow employees mentioned that this was a highly advertised national event, but other than a chalk board sign in my store I never saw any advertisement for it on TV or something....didn't check their website though.

[ivy]

I ended up going back to Starbucks and buying a thermal french press coffeemaker at the end of the day. (Because of the giveaway, I saw that the french press was on sale.)

So the promo worked! :-)

[higgins]

Were people leaving Any tips??

[Pacific NW Bargal]

Our customers were leaving pretty good size tips-- ranging from any spare change to over a dollar. Also, no one was rude or really mean about maybe having to wait a minute or finding out it was just brewed coffee and not their latte.

[Lou Sussler]

I couldn't get out until 2:00.

I asked about it when I got to the store. I indicated that I was tied up earlier and asked if I could get the free cup then.

There is apparently no "Just Say Yes" in place at the corner of B'way and Reade in NYC even for a regular who tips.

Oh well, the world won't stop spinning because I didn't get a free cup of drip.

[Beth]

I was working DT during the Coffee Break, but it still drove me crazy. One man ordered a venti white mocha and then drove away angry after he learned it wasn't free. The radio stations and TV didn't give out the correct information of course so people thought it was whatever they wanted all day long. Maybe it's just my area, but people seem to find every excuse to not like Starbucks. Hello! Free coffee! Has any other company ever done that? Probably not. Just appreciate free coffee next time, please.

[Eric G]

Someone said earlier in the post that they gave away 200-300 free coffees. Which begs the question: How many drinks per day does a Starbucks location serve? It has to vary from metropolis locations to suburban locations, right?

[D.J.]

I'm looking for a site that Partners go to chat.
I've been a Starbucks fan for about eight years, since moving to the states from canada. I have now worked for the company for a year. I'm looking to chat with partners and make trades for Starbucks collectibles,, I collect bears.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

My store serves about a thousand cup of coffees on a normal day although during the summer months it is weighted heavier towards the iced coffees.

mine serves a million each second!

(confidential information that could result in termination, especially if posted on a public message forum...)

[jason]

I work at a Starbucks in Canada. Apparently many Canadians saw American ads for this promotion (which was NOT running here) and showed up for their free cup of coffee. Of course we just said yes.

There were lots of ads on our local stations But most, licensed and company, did about 100 cups more than they would have. The news stations seemed to get it right but we still had a handful of people convinced that any drink of any size was free.

[D.J.]

I find it very odd that in Canada you don't put lids on the the hot drinks you serve.

we trust that they can do it themselves!

but seriously, i think it's because of the litigus (sp?) society that is bread down there, and not reflected up here, is most likely the reason.

[MGR]

I wished I lived in a country not constantly either in a state of fear or suing someone. GO CANADA!

[NJBaristaChick]

Some woman asked me through DT today if she could get a free coffee...Uh...der?

[yen-zen]

we gave out about 90 cups, some of them well after the deadline. (i had a woman call in from home, saying she heard about the promotion, but was covered in paint from painting her house, and she and her husband just now finished, and would it be alright if they stopped by and... of course, i said.)

we also did a guided tasting of the new rwanda blue bourbon and demo of our barista espresso machine. it was quite fun. i wonder if the stores with exhausted employees had enough coverage? my team was set up to win, with two black aprons to cover the rush for the coffee, and the rest of the team to cover the rest of the business.

worked well, lots of fun. would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Ryan]

I didn't work the morning shift that day at my Westborough, MA store, but I heard that we gave away about 200-250 cups. What about this free 1/2 lb. of breakfast blend offer that's being given away in the Sunday Boston Globe. We have only 2 lb's left!

[jennifer]

Hey James! That is AWESOME news about the magnificas at your store! Fabulous job and my hats off to you........
Jennifer
str mgr

[(ex)CoffeeBoy]

Sorry for the late post here. My (old) store was a nightmare in downtown DC. I mean NIGHTmare. Lines out 2 doors, no coffee in the pots and it was only 10:05am. Many pissed off customers decided the madness was not worth the wait and left. I walked 4 blocks to another busy - yet very organized store - where I enjoyed my free coffee. Yum! Hats off to the Washington DC - Chinatown store.

[Jack]

I went to the Starbucks in the Target Store in Revere MA. I was going to buy one of the small thermal mugs ($6.95)and asked if it included a free cup of coffee. They said it didn't... so I decided not to buy the mug. That seemed pretty petty... considering that I was using a Starbucks card... so was obviously a loyal customer. My guess is they would have earned more profit on the mug than the cost of a cup of coffee would have been.

[rooster]

Why is the milk poured into other cartons at sbux locations? does the milk sit outisde the refrigerator very long before it gets set back?

Are the portafilters always just "loaded" and waiting for the next espresso or latte? doesnt anything happen to the coffee if its sitting in the portafilter too long?

Let's hope the Pike's Place brew will create this type of enthusiasm!