Starbucks in Chicago starts serving Pike Place Roast two days early

The barista explains: "We ran out of our other coffees, so we started serving this one without making a big deal out of it." The Chicago Tribune reporter who sampled it says Pike Place roast is clearly a response to widespread complaints about Starbucks' penchant for over-roasting. It "delivers a pretty great cup of joe. It's got a light fruity and nutty aroma, a smooth feel on the tongue but nice body and no wimpy finish." (Read the Chicago Tribune story)

Comments

Stacy-Your limb just broke. you are wrong about me. thanks for playing along though.

By the way Stacy. Thanks for staying on board for so long. Hopefully we can turn some of this negative energy into really positive influential passion. It's all what perspective you choose to have. Keep working on it.

[Stacy]

I'm so glad you know me and what I'm about. Thanks for filling that void, anon.

[D]

I don't think using the promo cups is half as bad as brewing PPR. I mean, isn't the "big surprise," kind of, that we have a BRAND NEW COFFEE THAT WILL REVOLUTIONIZE COFFEE?!?!?! please.

They spoiled the big surprise. They did a big no-no. Like...Venti big.

[Callimaco]

I didn't realize they weren't supposed to use the retro cups yet. They've been using them at a story in Santa Monica for almost a week now.

(They look nice.)

Anon at 4/7/08@3:58:18pm - are you from New Jersey?

~ Nope, not in NJ. It's pretty amazing how many partners don't realize that Starbucks considers giving away product in exchange for getting stuff from other store THEFT! And MOST of us work under 24 hr cameras...Did you know the Partner handbook says we're not even allowed to sell our weekly mark-out?

[asm]

yeah the people who get to SIT in their office job and work diligently to justify their jobs,roll out ridiculous, often crappy promotions that WE the front lines have to smile and push....thanks...I think. ...

Dumb...for example "the SKINNY" platform...and so is a Venti 10 pump White Mocha called a FATTY?? Is SKINNY really necessary??

Can we call them short, small, medium and large?????????? end the confusion! wasting money......and product times 15000

[Joe N]

So is Canada not getting the Pike Place Roast at all? All this talk about it has made me intrigued.

-Customer in Toronto

[Jake]

Canada stores (as well as Licensed Stores) will be getting PPR by the end of the year.

[SirenBlazing]

"A retail component to hiring an SSC is idiotic.

If anything, store employees need to see how hard the SSC has it.

Right under the thumb of Howard and his crew, always having to come up with some promo, always having to be in meetings so the partners feel like they have the support they always request.

No way. SSC people do not have the time to work behind the counter. If they wanted to work behind the counter, they'd have applied at the store downstairs.

Wow. I think there are a lot of really jealous store employees on here who wish they could be bright enough for the SSC to want them."

This entire post made me chuckle. A lot.

I, for one, know that I am incredibly jealous of SSC employees and I surely marvel at how they survive such a unbearable existence at the SSC. I can only imagine (since I'm apparently not "bright" enough) how they find a way to make it into work each day.

LOL! Please...spare me.

[Ima Partner]

"unlike the ssc, I work in a store that earns the money for the ssc partners. you lay off."

If you had done your job and made some "money" as you say, the company wouldn't be in this mess. I mean the front line has to bear some of the responsibility for poor customer service and lack of a tight operation.

[Davezilla]

My store brewed pike place all day today. Oops. I am not sure why. I assumed it was a "soft" launch. Doh.

Will my manager get fired?

What are COD and COW?? I'm not a partner and I'm LOST!!!

[Joe B]

ugh. worst. thread. ever. Webmaster, where are your playground patrol post-deletions now? HMMMMM?

[Tom Bux]

I'm not a fan of drip sbux coffee. I find it overroasted and burnt tasting.

I'm very particular though. I find McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts coffee weak and boring, and regular sbux overdone.

I am looking forward to trying this PIke's Peak blend though.

Anon at 4/7/08@7:36:26pm

Sorry, thought you were responding to me about the store in New Jersey. But you misunderstood what I was trying to say. They give away drinks for better tips, not for getting stuff from other stores.

And they weren't selling me the mark-out, they just didn't indicate they were giving it to me in the system (register). They just handed it to me.

I never gave them a tip for any of the free stuff. I assumed that as a Shift Supervisor they had this privilege (and I think they do), so I just said thanks. But it was way too much. I'm sure it's still going on.

[C.M.]

Just had my first taste of Pikes Peak - It really does taste like Dunkin Donuts. Maybe this is all part of a clever marketing plan like when Coke introduced New Coke, then brought back the old Coke with renewed hoopla.

yeah the people who get to SIT in their office job and work diligently to justify their jobs,roll out ridiculous, often crappy promotions that WE the front lines have to smile and push....thanks...I think. ...

Dumb...for example "the SKINNY" platform...and so is a Venti 10 pump White Mocha called a FATTY?? Is SKINNY really necessary??

Can we call them short, small, medium and large?????????? end the confusion! wasting money......and product times 15000

Posted by: asm | Apr 7, 2008 7:41:41 PM

Clearly you don't understand what it is exactly that a company needs to do in order to be successful.

You may think that the skinny promotion was dumb, but, there were tons of people in Starbucks every time I was in there ordering up a skinny vanilla latte. It must have had some degree of success to have that many people ordering it. (And, no, that's just dumb to call regular drinks "fatty." Obviously.)

Starbucks has an edge with the drink size names. It's their "thing." You may find it annoying that it's short/ tall/ grande/ venti, but it's a trademark Starbucks is known for. It's also proven to be profitable.

I assume you work for Starbucks, per your name. If so, I'd suggest you think of this: it appears that Starbucks is only wasting money by keeping you on the books. If you're clearly as unhappy as you seem, you ought to think about leaving and finding a more suitable job (although it sounds like the SSC would never have you).

PS: You've used up your allotment of question marks and periods for the remainder of the year. Please refrain from future use. Cheers!

[Kevin Bruce]

I just had the Pike Place Roast this morning and was VERY impressed. Kudos for Starbucks going back to what made them King! When I lived in Oregon in 2002, we hit Seattle's Best and Peet's coffee houses because we felt that the Starbucks roasts were getting a bit homogenous. I'll be stopping by a Starbucks more often to see and taste the changes!

[COFFEEISLIFE]

ooh... can anyone tell me which store in New Jersey you're talking about? I'm from Jersey and I'm nosey... fill me in!

To Anon at Apr 7, 2008 11:25:03 PM:

COD is Coffee of the Day, and COW is Coffee of the Week

[Jeff G]

I went to 2 different Starbucks in my neighborhood today. Neither one knew that the promotion was supposed to include a free 8 oz. cup of brew for the advertised half hour period.

They were trying to pawn off a shotglass sized sample and it took some persuasion to get them to honor the 8 oz. promo. I thought it seemed like a bit of black eye to the company because they appeared very disorganized and had a bit of a "bait and switch" feel to it.

I'd received an e-mail directly from SBUX about the promotion. It was also in the AZ Republic and on last nights news - yet the supervisors at these two stores had to find out from customers about it.

At one of the stores one of the barrista's gave some bs explanation about being out of "that size cup" and as he did someone else came walking out of the back with a big stack of "that size cup".

Does anyone know if this miscommunication was beyond these two stores? I'v been a shareholder since 1997 and also work in the investment business. I considered my trip today good intellegence gathering, but with unfavorable results/oppinions of SBUX operational execution.

I brought a friend/client along who is also a shareholder. Needless to say the impression made on him was very poor too.

Although the stores had "Pike Place Brew" available and signs, they were not really talking about it or offering it. If people asked for it, they would give it (in the shot glass size - unless you negotiated up, like we did).

On the positive side, I did like the coffee a lot and I think the idea of having a consistent style/flavor everyday is a wise move. Still, I'm very tempted to dump my shares and put the money to work somewhere else. Am undecided for now, but SBUX is on my "needs to reprove themselves" watch list!

[adam hartung]

Starbucks must wake up and realize their problems are NOT about the coffee. The market for coffee shops and gourmet prepared coffee is nearly saturated, and being overrun with mass competitors. Starbucks has to find new places to compete. Its forays into sandwiches, other merchandise, music production, movie production and star agency were the kinds of things that could save the company - and now Mr. Schulz is tearing those down to invest in a slugfest which will only drive down margins. Investors beware. Read more at http://www.ThePhoenixPrinciple.com

Hi Apr 8, 2008 4:00:03 AM,

I'm sorry I was being confusing! I didnt mean that the partners at that store were doing those things...I was mainly just ranting in general about silly things partners do, and round-about replying to the bit about the partner who got a pizza named after her for giving away drinks for pizza...
I'm sorry about being confusing. ;)

Jeff G:

I know part of the problem in my area was the SEVERE lack of communication from starbucks to its stores around this event. I literally found out Monday Morning from my DM that there was something going on tuesday, and then we got an email Mon Night saying we should be in the stores for it. I know that I was rushing to fill in my partners today, luckily I opened my store adn could do it. Also, a lot of the confusion came from the news media not talking about the fact that the free 8oz coffee was 1) an 8oz coffee not whatever size you want and 2) It only ran for 30 minutes (the time depended on which time zone you are in)

[Rapunzel]

Can anyone clarify--are we supposed to brew PPR all day, in the AM as our medium, and afternoon as our regular? We have been under the impression that it is only brewed from noon til close!! Really don't want our AM people to miss out!

Our store was dead at noon today for the free coffee promo. We were all uncertain about how the promotion was actually supposed to be run, and we had our store meeting Sun night and knew nothing about it! I just knew what I had browsed here. My SM is new and a bit scattered right now with all the changes, but it sounds like the lines of communication were weak all around. Very dissappointing. But the coffee was great!

I was a little disheartened by the fact that we were supposed to throw away all the old cups, we are just using ours until they are gone, which will probably be tomorrow or the next day. (we did use the new 8oz cups for the free samples). The new cups are nice, but most people don't even notice, they just want their coffee and could care less about the cup, as long as it is new and clean. It seems like such a waste. And throwing out all the coffee bags with the old logo! Imagine every store throwing away all those cups and bags. We used our bags to give out free 1/4 lb samples of some of our whole bean coffee that was close to expiration. Maybe Starbucks should start concentrating on cutting such wasteful actions done in the name of promotion. Like changing display table cloths every month and throwing the old ones away (I take ours home and make sundresses and stuff out of the fabric). Or maybe they should make recycling the milk jugs mandatory for every store. We recycle at our store, but I have worked at many other stores where the milk jugs go in the trash with everything else. Multiply that a couple hundred times and think of the amount of plastic that could be kept out of the landfills.

I know Starbucks does a lot for the coffee farmers and for the environment that they live in, but how about taking some bigger braver steps here in the grand old land of consumerism and waste. How about making a green commitment and a strong statement here at home too? (And how about finding a supplier of retail merchandise in this country rather than outsourcing to China!) Being green (and local) is the newest trend and soon could be our best option for a livable future at all, and many people will start to go to the greenest coffee shop. Maybe Starbucks should get on the ball and fill that niche now, before it is too late, it could be the magic elixir.

Any thoughts?

[wondergekko]

Rapunzel: Who stated to throw out the regular cups, etc.? We were supposewd to switch to the new design for the next two phases, and then return to them. You can store them until then- no waste necessary.

[wondergekko]

Excuse my typo: should be "supposed"

[Cali ASM]

"SSC new hire should be required to work 1-2 weeks in the retail Starbucks environment"

I think Starbucks should fill non-retail positions with current/former retail partners. It is unforutnate that some/most of the partners coming up with new "ideas" or implementing these ideas sit behind a desk and have no SBux retail experience. Also, it is frustrating when you have a DM who has never worked behind the counter with the exception of their 1-2 weeks "training" upon hire.

[smokey]

to adam up above. excuse me but you are so wrong about starbucks getting out of those things is a bad decision. You must not be a partner to make such incorrect statements. I have been with starbucks as a barista for a very long time and I know what I'm talking about. First of all the smelly sandwiches, cheap looking merchandise, silly movie promotions, and too many c'd's sitting around are what turned customers off! Starbucks has and always will be about the best tasting coffee in town. Sure there are alot of wanna be starbucks stores popping up all the time, so what? That's why promoting a truly terrific tasting coffee like, pike place roast , is a win-win situation. Partners can hopefully explain about the originial 1971 pikes place market store in seattle. Customers know there is a story, history, about starbucks . Don't you get it Adam? Customers feel a connection with starbucks, it feels like home. You know the tv show cheers? That's what it is like to me working at my store, everyone knows your name, etc. etc. Howie wants to get back to basics, coffee, the love of making the best tasting coffee possible. Adam you have a terrific day and enjoy your pike place roast, you too will become a believer, as thousands of customers have. !!!!

[mochamel]

Ok- a few tidbits of feedback for all.

Over the last 6 weeks, the ordering has been an absolute nightmare. As the partner responsible for the roasting order in my store, its been hell for me to try and balance our coffee orders. I would order the right amount of pre-packs and bullet bags of med, dark and decaf, and would instead recieve ridiculous things like 32 bullet bags of espresso (in substitution to both my medium and bold orders for the week). I don't know what was going on at the warehouse, but it drove me and our neighbouring stores insane as we were constantly having to transfer between stores back and forth.

Secondly, I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but there have been a LOT of changes recently!!! Its not an easy task to keep up with it. Personally, I think the brewed coffee change was too close to espresso excellence. I know that they are endeavouring to boost shares, which is great, however I know we just havent had enough time to plan properly. Even the DVDs for the last few meetings were produced in such a hurry that they hardly worked at all (at our brewed coffee meeting we ended up reading scripts of howard and dub's messages, cos the DVD kept skipping!)
So, Starbucks, I love you. But please, give us a chance to catch our breath and assimilate everything before you throw something else at us.

[PDX Mgr]

Heres a concept put the tall drink in a damn grande cup?!?! I think it MIGHT fit? Though for those people who can think for themselves, you might want to spend a few hours with a resource manual before you make a courageous move like that....

[DuelingDuettos]

PDX, it may fit in a grande cup, but the last time I checked, you don't want to run out of grande and tall cups, just because of a promotion..

To Coffee is Life, as bad as I've been treated at that store in New Jersey, I know it's just part of life and unfortunately I was the one that had to loose all my friends and my 3rd place. If you want to figure out what store it is, go to the Google Starbuck's Gossip search and type in Morristown. There's lots of comments from many different people about this store. As bad as I feel about the whole thing, I still don't want to cause any problems for them. I know some of them are sorry for what happened.

[Coffee Addict]

The new Pike Place Roast is just awful! I can get a better cup of coffee at McDonald's or Dunkin'. Give me back my Starbucks!

[L]

Starbucks had a whole bean Coffee selling contest a couple of months ago if we won we'd each win a ipod itouch
Well we were told by our manager @ 2 n Riverside chicago 312-454-1010 that we had to tell customers that we were trying to send coffee to the army fighting over seas and if they would please buy and then donate the coffee to our cause so we sold over 500 pounds . Well Our Manager Nyicha Wimms never had any intention of sending all that coffee out. it now sits in our basement storage room . Where she has begun to brew and RESEll to our customers!!!!! IM Mad . She also made us take whole bean coffee home and sell it to our family or we shouldn't come back to work . I thought time worked == time paid . NO wonder stock has gone down because of managers like her that give our company its bad name

[M]

Yuck. Pikes Peak = hollow and weak.

Starbucks had a whole bean Coffee selling contest a couple of months ago if we won we'd each win a ipod itouch
Well we were told by our manager @ 2 n Riverside chicago 312-454-1010 that we had to tell customers that we were trying to send coffee to the army fighting over seas and if they would please buy and then donate the coffee to our cause so we sold over 500 pounds . Well Our Manager Nyicha Wimms never had any intention of sending all that coffee out. it now sits in our basement storage room . Where she has begun to brew and RESEll to our customers!!!!! IM Mad . She also made us take whole bean coffee home and sell it to our family or we shouldn't come back to work . I thought time worked == time paid . NO wonder stock has gone down because of managers like her that give our company its bad name

Posted by: L | Apr 10, 2008 4:28:37 PM

I sort of thought this was going to happen... justifies my concerns and defiantly makes me glad I didn't buy into this "donation" scheme.

Starbucks will do anything for a sale, even unethical things like lying.

Maybe that email about SBUX not sending coffee to the troops has something legitimate to it after all.

Still believe all the problems stem from growing too fast. The coffee is fine - doesn't need to be changed. Need to focus more on the customer service and hire people that share the whole concept of what a Starbuck's means to the community - not just someone looking for a job, or promoted beyond their means. Eliminate the Shift Supervisor position. Promote the proper individuals to ASM. Until you have a manager on duty at all times, the problems with gossip about customers, poor service, etc., will continue. The SS position is impossible because there's no authority. As always, I love Starbuck's. Just my thoughts, not meant to offend the 98% of all baristas that are spectacular!

[Sheila]

Pike Place Roast is god awful. I have no desire to order another latte at Starbucks after going there daily for five years. Maybe this is a good thing, it will save me a lot of money. But is takes away my only source of morning happiness.

[William Tell]

It's really unbelievable that Starbucks has (almost) completely done away with the one thing that made them (slightly) interesting: a choice of gourmet brews that differentiated Starbucks coffee from McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts. Now that they pushed out all the local coffee shops they decide to drop the good stuff and crank out a standardized cup of coffee that's weak to mild at best? If I wanted to make sure my coffee tasted exactly the same way each day, I would go to McDonalds or Dunkin. I don't understand why the corporate strategists think this is a good idea. It's not. This move is going to lose Starbucks even more customers.