Starbucks kicks off its Christmas season on Thursday

Christmas has always been a big deal at Starbucks, writes Lewis Lazare. "But with the company celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, the decision apparently was made awhile ago to make this holiday the biggest and brightest ever." On Thursday, Starbucks stores will begin to show off their bright red holiday decor. (Chicago Sun-Times)
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Comments

[VegasASM]

I'm actually very excited to start my third holiday promotion with Starbucks. I'll be in at 7 this evening and working until 3:30 tomorrow morning making sure my store looks immaculate. The temperature is dropping, thanksgiving is close, and I just love this time of year. Happy Holidays!

[Becca]

YAAAAAAAAY!!! I LOVE the holiday season!! I am SOOOOOO glad I work tomorrow! The cups, the music, the decorations, the drinks, the food, the spirit! So excited!!!

[Tired&Discouraged]

It just feels weird to go from campaigning 24/7 to Christmas 24/7. Ah, the life of a politically involved retail worker. :-)

[Sheik]

I am so tired of customers complaining, "It's too early."

Haven't they realized that the first week of November is customary to start holiday sales?

Can't wait til 2 weeks before Christmas when we're out of most of our merchandise... Can't wait to say, "NOW who's early?"

[Tired&Discouraged]

But, don't get me wrong, Starbucks Christmas is fabulous. Tonight is going to be awesome!

[extorontobarista]

The red cups are here.... it only happens once a year! ;-)

I'm in the UK right now and our red cups came in November 1st... it's never too early in England ;-P

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

Too bad Christmas has lost its true meaning on many of us when the Christ Child was born unto us who was to suffer a death to redeem us.

[sbuxnewbie]

Oh, maybe the christ child was born unto YOU, Rebel, but not unto me.

I don't even understand some of the holiday merchandise. What is an "advent calendar", anyway?

Mind you, I'm no kid. I'm way past 35 years old, and one of my parents' families is Catholic, the other Jewish, and I've got Baptist cousins, and lots of friends who are LDS, Buddhist, Hindu, Anglican, even a couple Witnesses. Went to college in the Bible Belt, too.

But there are still some aspects of this whole thing I just don't get (Holiday season in general, not necessarily the 'Bux version of it...)

And I really, really HATE peppermint!

(The gingerbread loaf, however, is very nice!)

Although I don't celebrate Christmas, I do agree that many people have lost sight of what it is about - and it isn't my job to educate them.

So I'll simply smile when people say "Merry Christmas!" to me, gave them a big, red cup of deliciousness, and thank them for brightening my day by spending some time with me, and hope that I've returned the favor.

Then, I'll keep searching for the "C" that is missing from "Chanukah".

[imabarista]

I am opening tomorrow I will definately remember to lock the door when I go in to open the store.

There will be at least 10 people in line by the time we open to buy all the ornaments and then sell them on Ebay in December.

2 to a customer.

All gone by noon.

[sbuxblows]

I have to work till 2:00 a.m. to set up a bunch of christmas crap so everyone can come in and mess it all up. Gaaaa!!!

[Colleen]

hmm...my Starbucks had the red cups and holiday merchandise starting today (but maybe that's because they already ran out of gingerbread---and yes, this is the same Starbucks that ran out of ps the week BEFORE Halloween)

[416barista]

I'm sad....Was supposed to go set-up tonight and was very excited, but I'm as sick as a dog....boooooo

[patrickm]

Yes, Red Cups arrived here in Ireland last week. The supporting website, itsredagain.com still isn't live! Drinks are the same as last year, but I love the xmas blend misto. Love IT!

[Deusx]

Becca, you sound like someone I know in Columbus.

[mystarbucks]

I love the holidays! I've already been listening to some Christmas CD's. I can't wait to see their decorations and various holiday beverages.
Cheers

[cornfrost]

Does anyone know what they did to the Cranberry Bliss Bar? It's different this year.

[416barista]

Cornfrost.....there back to the original shortbread bottom instead of gingerbread bottom used last year on the Bliss Bar

I must confess I love stopping into sbux when it's snowing outside, all bundled up, and getting my hot mocha. Now I just wish these damn stores would play classic jazz / holiday music like they did years ago instead of current, godawful, bland, adult-contemporary slop. Gotta have that cool atmosphere!

[Ephlan]

Im doing setup tonight with 9 partners, we are ordering pizza and everything. we are one of the top retail stores in the nation so our pod and store are chock full of holiday goodness. it's going to be an awesome Christmas season!

[Shelly]

Heyy! My first day is on Thursday at Starbucks! Thankfully I will be going on training :D

I love me the ginger latte! Or whatever it's called. Yes......I'm so excited!

[Dan]

Wow, training during the holiday season... I don't envy you. Good luck. Well, actually, it will probably be really good for you... Really make sure you know your stuff. Now I'm going to bed, were setting up at 4 AM tomorrow. We've had the stuff since last week, but our district manager wouldn't let us set it up :(

[Chi-towns best/angriest barista]

i'm sorry, but i seem to be the only one who hates the holiday season.
constant christmas music bothers me, and i hate the materialsim and commercialism of it all. besides, i'm too friggin broke to be able to participate in all the mad-dash shopping and excessive buying of crap that i don't need that everyone else seems to love. maybe it'd be allright if it were truly about family and goodness and all that, but i don't want to be within 100 miles of my relatives, much less at the same dinner table.

so call me scrooge and wake me in january when this is all over and done with.

[socal barista]

i just got back from my holiday set up, SOOOOO cute!

[extorontobarista]

Does anyone know when itsredagain.com or theredcup.com will be up and running (or if they will?).

Curious...

omg just did holiday setup...we have SO much extra stuff...and we're the biggest store in the district!! its ridiculsou!!

[IcedSoyLatte]

Yeup, just got home from setup.....LONG night!!! it looks pretty good though, but geeez I think we have more EXTRA stuff than what we actually were able to put out on the floor. Now if only we had somewhere to put all that stuff....*hahaha* Oh! must go! My bed is calling my name!

<3 Happy Holidays crazy cats!

[Charles]

Just e-mailed to Starbucks:

It is before Thanksgiving--we're not even in double-digit dates for November yet. However, the store is decked out in Christmas decorations, and the coffee of the day is Christmas blend. I walked out.

I'm a loyal customer. Not only do I have a first edition Duetto card, but mine was the first three or four Cincinnati area stores saw.

Every year, it starts earlier. Worse, the cups and other materials seem to linger for weeks after. Can we please try to contain the season to a more reasonable window?

[kev]

charles - i agree that the holiday phase starts too early. and this comes from a mall store partner who waits for and talks about the christmas roll out 10 months out of the year. i feel like we should've waited a few more days at least until after veterans day/rememberance day. but god help me, i had an insanely good time doing the roll out last night. i've looked into the 'no sneak peek' boxes stacked high on my cafe floor these past few days. every shift is like christmas morning. i never felt this way about christmas at my own home. and my manager gave us an early christmas present of leftover fall phase 2 mugs (ugly, but very thoughtful of him) and my d.m. delivered the news of pay increase toward the end of the year. happy holidays to all! get the izze sparkling cranberry - they're delicious as hell!

[HopkinsBella]

Hey--the cranberry bars are back, so I can't really complain. Thanks for bringing them rushing back to memory, Cornfrost. :)

Hope all recover from last night's decorating, too.

***BE CAREFUL WITH HOLIDAY GINGER BREAD LOAF***

!!!! 500 CALORIES . A SLICE!!!

!!! AROUND 60 GRAMS OF SUGAR!!!

THIS IS PER SLICE!!!!!

*** DIABECTICS......BE VERY VERY CAREFUL!!!!

[Susan]

THANKS FOR THE WARNING!!!
I love Christmas blend coffee with just a splash of peppermint...ummmmmm

[Former Barista]

Charles, get over yourself.

Last year rollout was November 10. This year it's the 9th (obviously).

Went into my old store this morning and was happy to see that the decorations this year are much nicer than last year!

[Lauren]

I just blogged about my peppermint mocha experience this morning. I'm still not completely over it.

http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/foodie/

[Decorating Elf]

*Yawn* I did the set up at my store, then stopped by another store to help them out for awhile. Awhile turned into greeting the morning customers...wow. I do love the decor however. Who doesn't love silhouettes?

[mkebarista]

Did anyone else have issues with measurements being off for the displays in the bays?

[CuteBarista!]

i was there til 2:30. *falls over*

i was HATING christmas by about 1 am.

good thing we had some adult beverages to get us through the night...

[AC]

We started setting up before the store closed, and AS we were setting up, customers were already looking at the stuff and asking if they could buy it! So we let them! I think we already sold 2-3 lbs of Chrismas Blend yesterday, as well as an Advent Calendar

[Nicole]

haha be careful with just the gingerbread loaf? be careful with anything from starbucks. we've had this debate before. and anyone who wants to know whats in their drink/food can check the nutritional information in the store, or online at starbucks.com

the barista bears are ADORABLE. barista bears are extremely sentimental to me. the first gift my boyfriend ever gave me was the spring barista bear, while he was on his shift, after i just got off of mine and i commented on how cute it was. and ever since he always gets them for me.

but i am sick already of people complaining of it being too early. i didnt decide to launch holiday phase today, but customers dont want to believe that.

they also dont want to hear that the decision was an excellent marketing decision on behalf of starbucks. november is when the majority of people begin their christmas shopping. it's when people start getting in the spirit. little kids dont wait till after thanksgiving to count down to christmas, they think about it in september. just as parents and other adults likely think about holiday shopping before thanksgiving.

personally, im waiting for that partner 40% off day to get mugs/ornaments for the family. and until then, its a christmas blend markout every week!

[Annette]

I AM ABSOLUTELY BEYOND THAT THE HOLIDAY SEASON IS HERE AND I LOVE that Starbucks has their red cups again this year, the decorations in the store and the red cups just make me so happy. Example: I was cut off in the parking lot and someone stole a parking spot from me (Naples, Fl is dangerous ;-) ) and I was absolutely LIVID but as soon as I walked into the store my bad mood immediately disappeared! I LOVE STARBUCKS! haha...

[socal barista]

when is the partner shopping day?

nov. 27th?

or something.

We don't set up until 4am tomororow because of construction....but this will be my first Christmas at Starbucks and I'm hoping it will go better then working Christmas at other retail stores! People actually WANT Starbucks, so hopefully they will be in a good mood.

[Need to know]

Hey does anyone know when they will start selling their Eggnog Latte??

[Yanowatimeen]

I went in to Starbucks this morning after not being there for a while (weight-loss break from the summer Fraps).

Imagine my surprise to see the Christmas goods there already! I had that panicky "it's too soon" feeling but that was quickly overcome when I saw all of the red and white goodness. Before I knew it, I had bought an advent calendar (knew from last year to get it early), ogled all the ornaments especially the big clear glass one with all the gold glitter inside and walked out happily humming holiday tunes while eating a way-too-fattening snowman cookie and drinking a peppermint mocha light Frap - with red SPRINKLES, squee!

Long live the holidays! During this dark and depressing time where most of the world seems to be in chaos and people are grim, it's nice to have something to look forward to.

Chi-town's best/angriest barista:

I'm with you 100%.
Nothing like holiday retail to make you reevaluate.

[Chicago Red Cupper]

I was just at the Starbucks in Chicago across from Corporate, and 3 girls came down from their offices to specifically get the red cups and show off to all their co-workers. The store looks great with the exception of the tiered decoration holding the Christmas Blend that looks like it could tip over at any second.

I also visited itsredagain.com which is now live. The Cheer Pass program looks neat (cheerpass.com), kind of like wheresgeorge.com.

[Sammy]

Eggnog latte is in now with all the other promo stuff.

[imabarista]

Itsredagain.com is cool.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

Advent is the time when we eagerly await the return of the Lord. Maranatha, Amen.

[SMAC]

yes