Business reporter Susan Chandler says Starbucks is likely far from done with expanding into non-coffee areas. Retail consultant Michael Silverstein tells her: "Starbucks is a great experimenter. They have a group of very loyal customers who essentially live a Starbucks lifestyle." The Starbucks lifestyle? Definition, please. (Chicago Tribune)
March 21, 2007
So this expert Adamson guy knows everything about branding, but his big suggestion is to offer more free stuff at the stores because the drinks are already really expensive.
Yeah, I've really noticed how the price of our drinks really keeps people away.
Dumbfuck.
Posted by: loudy mcmotorcycle | March 21, 2007 at 09:59 AM
"Starbucks' mellow mood"
???
I invite him to come work my bar on a saturday night (we're in a local mall). I defy him to last ten minutes in our "Mellow" working atmosphere.
Posted by: BNBARISTA | March 21, 2007 at 10:05 AM
Starbucks fragrances, perhaps?
Bella Florentina perfume for Women, Arabian Mocha cologne for men?
...Out-of-Bed Barista for those coworkers that show up with bedhead for their 7 AM shift and make you really wish they would allow us to wear cologne?
Posted by: The Reckoner | March 21, 2007 at 10:29 AM
I want Starbucks underwear so the Siren can get stained with my shit.
Posted by: BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL | March 21, 2007 at 10:36 AM
Yes, Starbucks lifestyle sounds like a wonderful idea, don't you think. Uncle Howie just wants to come in YOU anyway he can, and guess what you'll like it to because you want him to come in YOU.
Posted by: BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL | March 21, 2007 at 10:37 AM
Furniture? Huum..Could this mean stores being remodeled more often than every ten years???? Or does the good stuff just go into the new stores...lol
Posted by: jc | March 21, 2007 at 10:39 AM
Starbucks could really learn a lesson from the Olsen twins: if they bite off more they can chew, throw it up and get rid of it.
Seriously this is getting retarded. The Starbucks lifestyle! Pleas give me a break. What is this lifestyle, one where you overpay for unhelthy crap to put in your body on a daily basis? "People drink it because it makes them cool", yeah well guess what people do that with smoking and see where that leads them.
Or is the lifestyle telling people one thing then doing another? That's what Howie is basically dong with his memo, but all of a sudden we're a record label now. WTF!
I think we should start posting a sign above the door "Resistence is futile". At least then we'd be honest.
Posted by: Bariesta | March 21, 2007 at 10:44 AM
Starbucks Corporate...read this if you can:
F___ YOU.
You are the dumbest sons of b----es in the world.
Your marketing gurus are a bunch of goofs and dorks.
You can kiss your arses goodbye and go the way of ENRON, thanks to your "missing laptops".
Starbucks Music? F--- YOU. Don't make me laugh. Paul McCartney? Try looking him up on Apple's iTunes. You can't set the trend with your music because you are following Apple. Remember your stupid Starbucks/FYE (Camelot) merger? Where was that?
Starbucks Clothing? F--- YOU.
Ethiopia? F--- OFF.
Stick with espresso and keep it that way. You are no longer cool. You are a joke run by retards. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Posted by: anonymous | March 21, 2007 at 11:14 AM
Regarding coffee perfume, doesn't Demeter already have a coffee fragrance?
Again, it's Starbucks' prerogative to commoditize however it so desires--t-shirts are sort of already an unofficial part of a clothing bid. I am under no obligation to like or dislike any of the commoditizational turns the business takes.
Posted by: HopkinsBella | March 21, 2007 at 12:01 PM
While I might see something like t-shirts, hats, that sort of stuff (though I'd never buy any of it), furniture makes no sense to me at all. Sorry, but I don't want my living room to look like a Starbucks store. Yet, I have absolutely no doubt there are people out there that will fully embrace the 'Starbucks' style. It's those same people that come in, buy a cup of coffee and sit around trying to look cool, hoping someone will notice them.
Posted by: Kat | March 21, 2007 at 12:15 PM
"You can kiss your arses goodbye and go the way of ENRON, thanks to your "missing laptops"..."
I've seen this laptop thing mentioned more than once, could someone please elaborate on what it means?
Posted by: espressoterraca | March 21, 2007 at 01:41 PM
I'd buy starbucks tshirts and green aprons and the likes, if that makes me stupid, fine.
Posted by: K | March 21, 2007 at 01:49 PM
Starbucks furniture, like the crap we have in our stores? Yes I want a comfy chair thats legs fall off every 6 months in my home! And more clothing with advertisement on it. I'm not a walking billboard for anyone!
Posted by: Bladerunner | March 21, 2007 at 02:14 PM
I think the starbucks lifestyle is being highly caffeinated and sugared up from dusk til dawn.
Posted by: SAF | March 21, 2007 at 02:45 PM
Wow, a perfect solution to a problem.
Problem = customers on cell phones.
Solution = customized drink t-shirts.
Now, customers on cell phones can wear their t-shirts with their customized drink and just point to their chest without having to interrupt their phone call. We in turn can just point to the price on the register.
Now, we are all happy.
Posted by: GEM | March 21, 2007 at 05:10 PM
That was pretty disgusting boston starbucks rebel....you should have your mouth washed out with soap....
Posted by: Darleen | March 21, 2007 at 07:51 PM
Webmaster, this is getting out of control. Every blog site I have ever been to has some control over offensive language. I get that people want to express their frustrations, that is half of the reason I visit this site, so that we can vent about stuff, but the vulgarities and the language is out of control.
Please, partners, if you feel this bad about working for Starbucks, please go to www.Monster.com or www.careerbuilder.com and look for different job opportunities. I would hate to keep you around, knowing how awful you think the company is. If you're not loving what you do anymore, than find somewhere that you can love what you do. It would be a win-win for everyone, as partners who aren't happy, really can't produce the results that we are looking for...and don't care.
Posted by: | March 21, 2007 at 08:23 PM
Well said anonymous poster...
SBUX has always been a place to be proud to work, if that is not how you feel, let the door open out the same as it opened in when you joined.
All this negative talk on here is really disappointing, BSR and his/her "invented" standards, complaints about customers and the sense of entitlement are all too much to take...
Burger king is looking for your type, PLAEASE GO!
Posted by: Lucky McBucky | March 21, 2007 at 10:48 PM
If we do our jobs and make our customers happy thats great. Some people need to vent more then others. Better their curses and rants here then at work; Anonymous,and MR Lucky McBucky! Maybe there's a reason for the frustration. Not everyones world is colour me perfect. And Starbucks is not perfect. Most of us are barely getting enough hours to get that well hyped health insurance, much less pay rent and eat.
Posted by: Bladerunner | March 21, 2007 at 11:54 PM
I have already designed my condo kitchen and living room like a starbucks store. The "engine"(the counter in my kitchen) starts 13 feet from my front door. i make sure that you can't see into the kitchen tho. at the begining of my kitchen counter i have 2 built in mini fridges with a clear class door. i usually set my laptop and television right next to eachother a little further down to mimmic the cash registers. a little further down from that i have two fully automatic espresso machines and after that i have a little counter space that i use to weigh beans. i built the kitchen out of sectional kitchen cabnets that are in 15 and 30 inch sections. when i designed my house it was before Starbucks came out with those new fandangled store designs (classico, di mode, and country of orgin) I had to pick from the 4 elements(grow, brew, roast, aroma) store designs designed by Rubinfeld. I liked roast the best because of the reds and oranges and it was easier to find little metal flames to attach to my bookcase than it is to find signs for brew, grow and aroma. i dont' really have a dining room table but i have 5 little round tables i like those better than the square ones because when i sit alone i feel like the table is complete and not needing another person like the square tables make you feel. i also found some big poofy chairs in that old orange color that starbucks used to use. i also have wainscoting on the walls the same height of the chairs so i don't scratch the walls. i only put 15 chairs because i didn't want to have to install another bathroom (over 18 and most municipalities make you install another one) I use my bedroom closet at the back storage room, i figured that it could be small because the demographics of my condo/starbucks and the close vacinity to the roasting plant (i am in downtown seattle) i could recieve more frequent deleveries than if my condo was in the some small rural town. i am comming up on five years living in this starbucks store condo and i am thinking that i might need to do the 5 year facelift. I hope that starbucks comes out with that line of furnature and other fixtures than it would be easier to source materials when i need to do the 10 year full remodel....
Posted by: Andrew | March 21, 2007 at 11:56 PM
some of us don't want to love our crappy low-paying jobs, or do this any longer than necessary. we just want to get through school and pay our rent with a job that fits our crazy schedules. please take your claims of "this is the most wonderful stupendous work ever" elsewhere, because i can rattle off a hundred reasons that's not so.
Posted by: chi-town's best/angriest barista | March 22, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Andrew...whoa... I admit I have an italian cafe feel in my kitchen but damn I don't even know what to say about your pad.
Starbucks lifestyle? That kind of talk makes old baristas like me want to puke! What ever happened to the good old days where it was all about connecting with people over a great cup of coffee? Simple. Magical. Genuine.
Posted by: old school barista | March 22, 2007 at 04:34 AM
Chitown:
I can rattle off 100 reasons why you should quit, you are really self righteous, yet you stay at a job you obviously hate and make everyone around you miserable. Although I'll bet you act all peaches and cream at work, such the two face. No one is forcing you to stay, I'm sure burger king or mc donalds has flexible hours too. You are full of excuses, aren't you? The real excuse is that you're too lazy to get off your behind and look elsewhere, or you know you are not qualified to do anything else.The door swings both ways and you really shouldn't let it hit you in the rear end on your way out. I have read where so many people tell you to quit, you say you will quit, yet all you do is complain. If you don't like your job, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, do all of us customers and partners a favor and QUIT!!!
Posted by: | March 22, 2007 at 05:30 AM
hear hear previous post. in this economy, you can get a job you like in an instant. pretty much every sector (at least in my market) is desperate for employers. they offer you premium rate, benefits and flexible hours. get out of sbux if you're so miserable (if it's a bad fit, it's a bad fit); we'll find somebody else who is as competent and who actually wants to be there. why are you wasting a good part of your youth being miserable?
Posted by: red cup | March 22, 2007 at 07:02 AM
red cup,
don't you know its people like that that will complain about every job they have. If she went to burger king or mc donalds she would be complaining about how the fries are too hard to make or the special sauce is too hard to make. They are never happy.So it doesn't matter if its starbucks, she is a miserable person, too bad for her.
Posted by: carol | March 22, 2007 at 07:15 AM
Red Cup: "in this economy, you can get a job you like in an instant. pretty much every sector (at least in my market) is desperate for employers."
The rest of the country is doing great? This is news to me.
Posted by: stcrtemple | March 22, 2007 at 08:20 AM
I have to laugh at the shirts, I sold that free t-shirt from the make your own starbucks shirt, for 51.00 on ebay. So there is a market out there for starbucks shirts..though I have to say that shirt was fugly.
So would I buy it..no. I do have a starbucks apron here that I won off of ebay, but it was autographed by my favorite band when they visited the starbucks in their hometown. So that's the only thing here I own Starbucks clothing wise. I do have a few mugs, but they were given to me as a gift.
Posted by: pepperminthotchocolategirl | March 22, 2007 at 08:40 AM
hear hear previous post. in this economy, you can get a job you like in an instant. pretty much every sector (at least in my market) is desperate for employers. they offer you premium rate, benefits and flexible hours. get out of sbux if you're so miserable (if it's a bad fit, it's a bad fit); we'll find somebody else who is as competent and who actually wants to be there. why are you wasting a good part of your youth being miserable?
WOAH WAIT!? THERE'S JOBS!!?! WHERE? I've sent out over 400 applications, so far I have only had 1 interview. I graduated from college with a 3.9 and top of the class..and I can't find a job. So where is this abundance of jobs? Cause I've been looking for 4 months now for a job, and I've found ZIP! Granted yes I could go work at McDonalds..but I didn't get a degree to do that..if I wanted to work at McDonalds I would..but there they would probably say I was over-quailifed to do the job because I have a degree. So yeah..there's jobs everywhere..HAHAHAHAHA..I think not. When I went to take a civil service test, over 300 people showed up to take this test and every single person was in the same situation I was, and these 300 people showed up for ONE job. So yeah..there's jobs out there..sure..in your make believe world possibly, but in the real world..NO! So that's why some people are staying where they are because they know that if they go and leave their job, it will be hell to get another one. So unless you want to send those jobs our way so that those of us who want and need a job can have one..I suggest you stop crying that anyone can get a job right now..because WE CAN'T!
Posted by: pepperminthotchocolategirl | March 22, 2007 at 08:45 AM
pepperminthotchocolategirl, I was in the same predicament about seven years ago, and quite honestly, I think almost every person who graduates from college goes through the same experience. Your college counselor tells you what great paying jobs will be around the corner once you get that piece of paper, but ultimately, as we ALL HAVE HAD TO DO, we faced reality, and realized that they were lying, and we would need to start at the bottom and work our way up. So assuming you will get a $35-50,000 job because of the degree is useless. Just get in with a company, and prove your way to growth and development. Your degree will pay off later, but not initially, not without several years of experience in the workplace. It was a tough lesson to learn.
Posted by: | March 22, 2007 at 10:54 AM
I think SAF summed up the "Starbucks Lifestyle" quite succinctly, Ha ha!
Andrew? I'm waiting for an invite to your pad.
Posted by: melina | March 22, 2007 at 11:37 AM
Wow...I think everyone here needs to lay off of the caffinated beverages...Including that Anyonmous dude...
Posted by: | March 22, 2007 at 11:52 AM
I wish they would sell my quotes from here since they are so strong and impactful. If I could bottle myself I would make tons of money just like bottled Frappuccino.
The one, the only...
BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL
BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL
SKU 100000000
Posted by: BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL | March 22, 2007 at 12:15 PM
thank you pepperminthotchocoalte girl. i think people who have good jobs seem to think that the whole world shares their experience, but that's just not so. frankly, the job-market here sucks. and i'm not an uneducated oaf either. i've been to both selective public and private colleges, and i'm still contiuning my education right now. and if i'm too lazy working full-time and going to school full-time, then i'd hate to hear what you call the people who actually are lazy. class from 9-4, work from 4:30-11:15, a saturday class and another weekend shift; that certainly leaves me tons of time to sit around my ass doing nothing. you know, like when i'm on the train ride home -that's my sitting time right there. you just don't get it. not everybody has the nice lives that you do. i'm not expecting to make tens of thousands of dollars a year. ever. i just need enough to cover rent and bills and leave me with more than 50bucks in my pocket at the end of the month.
and as for being competant, i'm pretty sure i can push buttons right up there with the best of them, but i'm not getting an education so i can be a fry chef. the point of going to college is to get away from that kind of work. i'm sick of people thinking i'm an idiot becuase i work at starbucks. i am not stupid, i can count your change jsut fine without you "helping" me. i do not need you to write thngs down and spell them out for me. i do not need your snide comments and insults. i do not need customers to tell me how to do my job, since in case you have not noticed, i work here. you don't.
Posted by: chi-town's best/angriest barista | March 22, 2007 at 12:28 PM
The stores have turned into purveyors of gas-station-quality crap toys and knick knacks. Ugly.
Posted by: whitney | March 22, 2007 at 01:08 PM
Andrew might want to talk to Starbucks about selling them his apartment....they'd probably pay more since its already furnished.
Posted by: BNBARISTA | March 22, 2007 at 01:13 PM
Thank you pepperminthotchocolategirl, Anyonmous (under the previous), & Chi-Town. Well Said.
"i think people who have good jobs seem to think that the whole world shares their experience, but that's just not so." - Chi-Town
Exactly. A lot of people seem to think that way.
Posted by: CARAMELTUNNEL | March 22, 2007 at 01:37 PM
The newspaper article said, " Are we a nation of people with so little personal taste and intellectual curiosity that we rely on the corner coffee shop to select our next novel?"
Well, the answer to that is simple: Look at how many people read things that are featured on "Oprah", and only because they are featured books!
I won't even mention politics.
So, sorry to get back to the subject of this thread - I'll try not to let it happen again. (g)
[Aside: It is interesting that I was off for 5 days, and a significant number of morning customers noticed, and actually were asking where I was... Including a few who somehow knew me by name, to my surprise! THAT, to me, shows that I'm connecting with my customers!)
Posted by: Sbuxnewbie | March 22, 2007 at 03:15 PM
I talked to Starbucks about selling them my appartment but they said that the "appartment store" did not have the right demographics, they also said that it did not have an attention grabbing store front. they like endcaps you know...
Posted by: Andrew | March 22, 2007 at 03:27 PM
Look guys people come on here to vent and complain yes. But saying they probably suck at their job is going a bit far isn't it? I worked at a toy store for a number of years and i hate children, but i was good at my job, i made it up to assistant manager before i left. All i'm saying is don't judge a person by a few comments they made, you don't know them. Is it that hard to just let someone vent every once in a while? If you don't like what they have to say then don't reply. By replying you're blowing on a fire to put it out when it only makes it worse.
Anyways Starbucks Lifestyle... my @$$.
Posted by: Bariesta | March 22, 2007 at 03:45 PM
Yeah I went to a private college as well, one where you pay as much as harvard to go to (actually we did the math..we were paying more..harvard was cheaper...) and then when I realized I wasn't learning jack crap except for when prisons were built (which I was like..ook..what criminal am I going to arrest that wants to know that information..) I went to a public college where in a year I got my degree, was on the dean's list every single quarter, and took an overly full load of classes.
I mainly focused on my school work and did part time work on a farm so that I could make the grades. I wanted my education to be the best it possibly could be, because like the poster after me posted, we're told we'll get into the FBI academy and we'll be top level criminal justice people and we'll just be able to walk right out onto the street and go TAKE ME I'M AVAILABLE TO WORK! And it will happen. HAHAHAHAHA..liars. And as a criminal justice major we were told that oh there would be THOUSANDS of openings..yeah..NOT! Plus I got hurt in August which knocked me out of the Police Academy, which destroyed half my chances at getting a job. So therefore I'm limited to what is available out there to me.
I have worked at your average joe stores so to speak. The ones were no degree is really required. I worked at Home Depot..and I thought..why am I here? I know I'm here to earn money..but I'm a cashier..I didn't get my degree for this!!! I was also an EMT but that injury took me out of being that as well (I literally have a piece of bone missing from my leg..so one wrong move and I've got a broken leg for the third time again)
But people complain because I don't have the work experience. Well sorry I focused on my education and got good grades. What, did you want me to fail all my classes and work a 9-5 and take three extra years to complete my school work? But then they see my skills and go Oh wow..those are amazing (I'm really gifted with a computer..I want to go into computer crime..but there's no openings..anywhere..) and that they are the best they have ever seen but they can't hire me due to lack of work experience. Well gee even if I worked at Wal-mart that wouldn't be the experience you were looking for. Which I did apply at Wal-mart, but they were only going to pay me 6.15 an hour. You can't live off of that people!!!! See that's another problem. I need a job that pays the bills! And also that gives me a little extra so that eventually I can get a house. So see, finding a job is complicated. Like I said, sure I can run over to McDonalds and go oh pick me pick me..but they won't pay enough to cover the bills and expenses around here. So right now I'm ebaying things. I'm making an income off of it for the moment. But the job market right now is not a yellow brick road that is just going to lead me right to the great Oz who is going to give me a job. Instead..we're getting detoured to where the wicked witch lives, and if we make it past her, we MIGHT get a job. So to those with cushy jobs who are happy as a lark..congrats. Remember us who are still working our butts off trying to find one when you sit there and go yeah there are jobs out there, when you hate to admit that there are none, which is why there are more homeless and people on welfare everyday.
Posted by: pepperminthotchocolategirl | March 22, 2007 at 08:16 PM
Sense of entitlement
+inability to delay gratification
=no longevity
No longevity
+unrealistic expectations
=mediocre talent
mediocre talent
+college degree
=risky hire
risky hire
+no experience
=undesirable candidate
It's pretty simple. You choose a company, and you dedicate yourself, regardless if you would do things differently. You work with the system, not against it. You figure out what the company's major ticking points are, and you exceed expectations.
All this energy focused on this "outlet", let me ask you, at the end of the night, do you really feel "better" about yourself after having "vented" here? Or do you feel even more skeptical, more cynical, and more entitled?
I would argue that if half of you refocused this energy into taking real steps towards progress in your store, even as scary and tough as it may be to be a true leader, within 6-12 months you could do what it takes to get promoted. And THAT will land you opportunities for the future.
Like I said, some people figure this out early, some later, but it clicks, at some point, for everyone. If you disagree, that just means that it hasn't clicked for you. I get that. I was raging against the machine for a handful of years.
Join the Real Revolution, and let's raise our stock prices. PLEASE.
Posted by: TheRealRevolution | March 22, 2007 at 09:11 PM
let me assure that stock prices will not rise as the quality of the company falls. we used to be good -in the broadest most emcompassing sense of the word. we also used to be just a coffee company. see any relationship?
Posted by: chi-town's best/angriest barista | March 22, 2007 at 11:13 PM
Mmmm, what is the Starbucks Lifestyle?
It's driving a Supercharged 2007 Range Rover, a Bentley, or Maybach. It's wearing the finest clothes, impeccably tailored. It's talking on phone as I'm placing an order, when necessary. If you "baristas" don't like this, I don't know what to say - we're busy people. SUCCESSFUL people. It's making certain that as we leave the Starbucks establishment, we hold the beverage prominently to our chest while still talking on the cell phone, letting it be known that because we patronize Starbucks...we are SOMEBODY.
Fucking assholes. It's people like the aforementioned that have totally driven me away from SBUX completely.
Posted by: BLUMPY | March 23, 2007 at 02:42 PM
Gee Blumpy..you were never apparently taught what manners are..and you are the perfect example of why people on cell phones annoy people who work in sales..because you are the words you said..successful you may be, but at what price? Did you lose your manners to get where you are? If so I'd rather be poor and know how to be civil to someone compared to being rich and a stuck up snob.
Posted by: pepperminthotchocolategirl | March 23, 2007 at 08:25 PM
generally, i find fellow customer service workers to be the better customers. i swear it's because they know what it's like on the other side of the counter.
Posted by: chi-town's best/angriest barista | March 23, 2007 at 08:29 PM
Congrats to the barista who got out all her anger and frustration about the ridiculous customers that come in...I got some good laughs from all that cathartic Grande venting
You Rock!! Former Barista AND Snob
Posted by: skybloom | April 02, 2007 at 05:40 PM
Yeah, there are snotty people everywhere who like to feel important at the expense of belittling others. Just try not to let them get under your skin. For all you know those customers with the tailored clothes and gas-chugging SUVs are severely in debt with all kinds of other problems. You just don't know...
I don't think the Starbucks lifestyle is typical for all Starbucks customers, at least not in my area. Some people really are just looking for a place to escape life with a nice cup of coffee, worth an extra buck once in awhile.
Posted by: visitor to this site | February 07, 2008 at 02:09 PM