OPEN THREAD conversation-starter: Confirm *or* shoot down this dispatch from a tipster

Here's what we're told: "The new breakfast offerings will be similar to breakfast hot pockets as well as new wraps. Also only the bacon, turkey bacon, and sausage sandwiches will survive but just until the new program takes off. || VIVANNO shows promise with new flavors and versions that will be down the road. || More marketing promotions and deals like $2 receipt focusing on brewed coffee. || Also we will have a Thanksgiving blend since we are delaying holiday launch until right before Thanksgiving. Usually holiday launches right in the beginning of November." || Discuss this dispatch or anything else Starbucks-related in the OPEN THREAD.

Comments

[Uncle Howie]

Yeah - Black Friday is a great day to do extra stuff.

[sbux barrista]

I meant is Canada getting all this glorious stuff too or just the states?

[Herman M]

N, pretty uch the States. Canada has no medals yet. Oh, wrong topic. ;)

[albany_shift]

I noticed today that all the 5 lb. bullets of Pike Place Roast that we received earlier this week were roasted not in York, PA as usual, but rather at Carson valley, NV. With gas prices what they are these days, it seems a troubling strategy to be shipping coffee all the way across the country. Anybody know if this is just a temporary hiccup or is something bigger going on in York?

[seventysix [76]]

All I know is that I'm ready for the St. Matthews, SC roasting plant to be completed... will be nice to have an RP very very close to home!

[Crema the crop]

Dmanagerla, you would rather spend your thanksgiving evening setting up the Holiday launch? Day before works fine for me.

[Bill]

To albany_shift:

They don't grow the beans at the roasting plant.

I doubt there is much difference if Hawaiian beans are shipped from Hawaii-Nevada-Albany or Hawaii-Pennsylvania-Albany

[nycsm]

RE: Anybody know if this is just a temporary hiccup or is something bigger going on in York?

Posted by: albany_shift

York seemed to be having some issues this week...a lot of store in NYC didn't get RP orders at all this past Friday, just an email from our CSRs telling us that stuff would be there on Monday and to work it out...fun stuff.

[FLA SM]

I hate making Vivannos due to the extra time it takes, I hate the flies that come with the bananas, I hate the pressure that has been placed upon us to force them onto our customers, I hate not having extra labor for the extra time it takes to make them, and I hate chipping frozen banana chips out of a box with various metal implements because they are all stuck together like a giant block of ice.
Given all that, I am objective enough to realize they are a healthy alternative to most of our drinks and I have to admit, the OMB is pretty tasty.
Here's my favorite modification for the OMB: replace the milk with the blended lemonade mix and add 2 pumps of raspberry. Add energy if you need the boost.

[Sheik]

Wow, it's Saturday and this open thread only has 60some posts? You guys must be losing your touch...
No heated debates yet?

In answer to the Thanksgiving blend - I heard that we will be getting a "Harvest Blend" in early November to help with coffee sales that we used to count on from the Christmas blend at that time.

[dmanagerla(former)]

crema,
day before thanksgiving... didn't realize that was the day... that is almost perfect!

luckily, i won't have to work thanksgiving, the day after, xmas eve, xmas, new years eve, new years... yadda yadda yadda... for the 1st time in 14 years

[buckaroo]

optimal scheduling? anybodeeee?

[Cali ASM]

Yes, lets talk optimal scheduling. Gonna need some more info on this.

On a side not: I would totally do the promo set the day before Thanksgiving if it meant having Thanksgiving off. I would NOT do it on Thanksgiving or the day after!!!

[Cali ASM]

"day before thanksgiving... didn't realize that was the day... that is almost perfect!

luckily, i won't have to work thanksgiving, the day after, xmas eve, xmas, new years eve, new years... yadda yadda yadda... for the 1st time in 14 years"

Posted by: dmanagerla(former) | August 16, 2008 at 08:15 PM

dmanagerla(former):
Why do I all of a sudden envy you so much!!!!!

[really why]

vivannos are quite good a product...the store is full of flies in the morning, but they are decent...but really what happened to this being a coffee shop?..all these novelty drinks...the coffee side is a joke.It's so neglected and any pride or craft in the job has gone and its a tedious assembly line.
The only thing the company does well is choose staff...but otherwise its a overpriced fast food chain and im happy to be a soon ex-emplotee for a company that i was prepard to care about and give my all for.

[abcdthru]

Do any of you barista's have advice on transferring stores? My manager isn't much help, as she's about to head out on maternity leave, and we just lost our ASM to a new store in the area. I've got some calls to make, and I'm a little uncertain what to say or how to sell myself. I'm from the Seattle area, a high-volume store to boot, so I'm thinking I'll be an asset to the area I'm moving to. Anything I should be on the lookout for when I speak with managers on the phone? Questions I should ask? Points I should make?

[Venti Urnex Latte]

So you know how they give us T-shirts every now and again, for holidays, new spring drinks, etc?

HOW MUCH DOES THE COMPANY SPEND ON THESE?

Say 100,000 baristas in the U.S. get two or three T-shirts a year each. That is 200,000 or 300,000 T-shirts at a cost of....what? A million dollars a year maybe?

Does anyone else think that Starbucks should not be spending its money on these promotional T-shirts that we wear for only a few days?

abcdthru -
To transfer to another store you do need your SM to approve it. So you should get her to do that before her maternity leave. But one question that a good SM will ask is if your current SM knows that you want a transfer and are they willing to let you go.

[LEGENDARY OR BUST]

The old-school BROWN sleeves are SO-O-O-O much better than either the Christmas sleeves or the Pike sleeves. Pike sleeves are the worst -- especially on a tall cup.

T-shirts are tacky in generally in a place like ours.

Green light to Vivannos all the way. Every market should be a frozen bananas market -- no flies.

Starbucks coffee is the strongest on the market -- I have tried them all. Small, independent shops don't count -- they are not the competition in the majority of markets.

(By the way, strongest equals best).

I am SO-O-O-O glad the Pike cups are almost gone. The grown band is a pain to write around. The old-school cups are the best.

[Marcus]

I agree about the $2 drink thing slowing the line down. They explain the process to me every day, and I got it on the first day. I've not yet had a time where I wanted to go in in the afternoon. Someone should create a repository for the receipts for people to grab one as they walk in the store.

[espressoblend]

The only thing the company does well is choose staff...but otherwise its a overpriced fast food chain and im happy to be a soon ex-emplotee for a company that i was prepard to care about and give my all for.

Posted by: really why | August 16, 2008 at 10:32 PM

Really? Really?! They choose staff well? Honestly? I don't think so. There are lots of ho-hum people at SBUX, and lots of really bad employees with no concept of customer service, but rarely do I see one that does a "good" job. I do agree that SBUX is, indeed, fast food, though.

Also regarding:

abcdthru -
To transfer to another store you do need your SM to approve it. So you should get her to do that before her maternity leave. But one question that a good SM will ask is if your current SM knows that you want a transfer and are they willing to let you go.

Posted by: | August 17, 2008 at 12:31 AM

You know, if my manager wasn't being helpful about my transfer, I'd be like, whatev and just do it myself. I think it's really funny, though, that people feel like it's up to the store manager to approve or decline a transfer, especially for someone moving and especially for someone who the Store Manager thinks is a great employee and an asset to their store. Like that's going to stop that person from relocating... and if it did, I wouldn't want to be in that store with that employee... talk about tension.

[LEGENDARY OR BUST]

Espressoblend,

There are WAY MORE nice/courteous people working at Starbucks than at other fast food places. GENERALLY.

I think that the employee selection is GENERALLY more rigorous than, say, at McDonald's

McDonald's:

"So, you want to flip a burger? You got a pair of hands on you? Here's where the grill is at!"

SBUX:

"Describe how you have successfully dealt with a customer who had an issue in your past jobs? What would you do when a difficult situation arises?"

It has been my experience that GENERALLY SBUX employees are much more pleasant in tone and in behavior than at other places. There are examples of bad service -- every day -- but IN GENERAL it it way worse elsewhere.

[former manager]

abcdthru:

As long as your barista certification is complete and you have not had corrective actions or a "needs improvement" on your most recent review you are eligible to transfer. Given those conditions, if you are moving there is no reason for a manager to delay or deny a transfer request. (Your manager may not want to lose you at your current store, but Starbucks doesn't want to lose you, a trained partner, either.) If your manager is unwilling to process a request for you, you might have to reach out to your district manager (if you are comfortable with that); failing that, you may have to call the business conduct hotline. That *will* result in action.

By the way, you should have some idea of the specific store you would like to transfer to. If possible, it's helpful to reach out to the manager at that store to let her know you are interested in going there. (This will also allow you to make sure the store has a specific need for your availability, etc.)

[mpnsp]

Does anyone know when the new WiFi is expected to be completed in all the stores? It appears that some stores now have t-mobile and some have WiFi in the same markets. I was recently told by a manager that the equipment has been installed and they are justing waiting.
Ideas anyone?

[Cut Out The Heart]

The selection process is not more rigorous at Starbucks then it is at a fast food restaurant. The difference is the quality of applicant. Matter of fact, since most people see fast food as a "dead end" job, they do not apply. This results in the fast food manager having to work harder to get good employees. Starbucks has been fat and sassy for all these years because it has been seen as a most admired brand. Those days are changing and the weak selection process they have in place is going to result in lower quality employees. I think they have the tools to select well but the overworked managers who are spending all day peeling bananas won't use the tools. I think the interview will go like this...

"So, you want to peel a banana? You got a pair of hands on you? Here's where the blender is at!"

In GENERAL, I think your short sighted view of the professionals that run quick service restaurants is insulting.

[Terraza]

Esspressoblend:

Exactly what is it that you do? And have you ever worked in customer service? Just curious what your background is....

[Koolaid Stained]

Can you say low aged quality indonesian stock? What with typhoons and tsunamis...I can imagine this component of xmas blend being in short supply. Think about the timeline - coffees aged 3 to 5 years, major earthquake 3 to 5 ago...

[StLouieDrip]

If this area/market never had the breakfast sandwiches, and never had the warming ovens, does that mean we can also skip the return of those types of items?

And Canada, no need to feel left out, as many U.S. areas also don't ever see all the "glorious stuff" that sbux has to offer.

[Melody]

To the barista needing help with transfer: Have you directly talked with your DM about this? One of my favorite baristas recently left Seattle, heading to Utah, and I remember her saying her DM was helping her get set up into a new Starbucks.

This post is also just a shout out to some Orange County baristas: I took a very short trip to the OC this weekend and went to a Starbucks in Aliso Viejo (567), Dana Point (6749) and San Juan Capistrano (636), all which were nice to visit. I heavily indulged in Sorbetto this weekend since it's not available in Washington.

Two of those stores had Mastrenas too which was very exciting to see!

When Sorbetto was tested in Western Washington, I am SURE I could buy it in a 10 ounce size, and a tall and grande, as I recall, but I was surprised to see that in now that it is launched in Southern Calif, it's 10 ounce size only. Why is that? That's weird to me.

Is there no demand for a larger size Sorbetto? I know from when it was here, I have no problem drinking a grande size Sorbetto. (LOL, obviously I’m just a pig!). In fact I'm digging for an old receipt right now ... I paid $3.90 for a grande tropical sorbetto at one time when it was here in Wash, and see even here that there is a sku for that.

What happened with the Sorbetto sizes?

[LEGENDARY OR BUST]

Cut the Heart Out:

My post is insulting to whom again? And what will you do about it?

See!

Do I care? Yes, and no. It seems like it's a personal problem.

To the webmaster, he/she started it.

[LEGENDARY OR BUST]

And, while we are on the subject of candidate selection @ Starbucks -- my summary was nothing short of complementary. You should be thanking me for a sober assessment of the situation (for once).

[LEGENDARY OR BUST]

*complimentary, that is.

[An Awesome Homosexual Partner in Washington]

Melody is right, when my seattle area store did Sorbetto we could sell them in all sizes.

[waltie]

Transferring requires approval from your SM and both DMs. Also, it's not guaranteed. The store to which you'd like to transfer may not have space or a need for a barista, shift, etc.

[NYC Paul]

Perhaps a partner can help. I have, on 3 or 4 occasions in the past year, felt sick to my stomach after drinking a small amount of a unsweetened black iced tea. Location of purchase seems unimportant although I *think* that it has happened at licensee locations. (sorry.... non-sbux corporate locations is what I mean, whatever they're called).

None of the drinks seemed overly strong or odd in any way. Does the iced tea come from a concentrate, or is it brewed fresh at each location?

[Kathy]

I think there should be some other kind of promo aimed at people who live in rural areas. I have to drive 20 miles one way to reach my nearest SBUX. I can't get there morning & afternoon of the same day. Even though the drive is this far I do go approx 5 days a week. I work 7a-3p & usually go after work which means I arrive at SBUX between 3:30-4:00pm. How about a Happy Hour like Sonic? They have half price drinks between 2-4pm. You do not have to go in the morning to get the discount in the afternoon.

[Wyfind]

NYC Paul,

The teas are freshly brewed; there are these over-sized tea bags that we put in those pitchers with hot water for four minutes. We then put one liter of filtered cold water in.

[Redd]

Kathy - We have Vivanno Tuesdays for registered card users to get their Vivannos free between 4-6. I think if Starbucks did what Sonic did, there would be plenty of people berating them for 'copying'...and lord knows there would be Baristas complaining about another promotion to explain! haha...I admit it is a little frustrating to give every customer a speech about each promotion (although I have been getting nothing but positive reactions to the Treat Receipt!)

And as for the hiring topic - Let me say, I have worked all kinds of job...including in a regular fast food place...and the dumbest, most immature Baristas we have at my Starbucks are a hell of a lot more productive and personable than the majority of fools I worked with at that place! I do think that a lot of restaurants want to make sure you are somewhat literate and physically able to do the job, and maybe friendly...but I noticed that the partners that get hired at all the Starubcks in my area actually have real conversations with the manager to make sure they will be a good fit in the store.

I'm glad we don't have to worry about this whole breakfast sandwich issue...we've never had them...we just got a self serve toaster in our cafe the other day, and the Baristas aren't allowed to toast anything for anyone in the drive through. I hope that having the toaster now will increase our pastry (bagel)sales b/c it's gotten to the point where they don't send us much anymore b/c it doesn't sell, which makes our pastry case look very sad in the evening...

[stlbarista]

StLouiedrip:
Regarding your question about the warming ovens, sammiches, and such in our area, I've heard no mention of any warming program in our future (and I try to stay fairly informed). However, these days major changes are often sprung up very quickly (i.e. - the "treat receipt")

[stlbarista]

Oh, but there are Mastrenas in our future, yay!

[Mysticboi]

"You know, if my manager wasn't being helpful about my transfer, I'd be like, whatev and just do it myself. I think it's really funny, though, that people feel like it's up to the store manager to approve or decline a transfer, especially for someone moving and especially for someone who the Store Manager thinks is a great employee and an asset to their store. Like that's going to stop that person from relocating... and if it did, I wouldn't want to be in that store with that employee... talk about tension." -espressoblend

In order for a transfer to be approved, two SM's have to give authorization. The store you currently work at and the store your transfering to. The DM's have to be aware of it as well...tho i doubt they care. So if the current store manager won't let you go, then you can't go...and you can't just quit either, then transfer...cuz the store you're relocating to still has to ask you past SM if thats ok. The SM you worked for can write you up as not hireable...meaning you can never work at Starbucks again. Theres no way around that since your social insurance number is kept in record. Atleast, thats how they do it in Canada. Harsh...but I've seen it happen.

[melissa]

My DM has confirmed that Vivano is here to stay. She said more or less that it is the new Frappuccino - a beverage category that will always be on the menu from now on, but will change flavours seasonally. No comments on what flavours will be launching in fall - I am awaiting the arrival of my fall marketing kit to find out.

[Melissa]

Also about transfering - the other option is to apply at licenced stores. You have to quit before you can be hired there but most licenced managers look to hire former baritas to save on training, and usually the pay is better with licencees. Just make sure you find out all the details of unions, benefits etc, because they vary widely.

[melissa]

Just one more thing

I hate the bananas as much as the next barista, so when I have extra time I portion the frozen bananas into cello bags so all you have to do is dump them into the pitcher.

[starbuckcupcake]

as for the remainder of the liquid in the blender after making a Vivanno --- at my store we were trained that this remainder is to be sampled out at all opportunities, thus boosting the Vivanno sales.
obviously when you are busy this is hard to do, but just pour it into another cup until you finish a rush and then you can work on sampling it to other customers.

[StLouieDrip]

stlbarista: StLouiedrip:
Regarding your question about the warming ovens, sammiches, and such in our area, I've heard no mention of any warming program in our future (and I try to stay fairly informed). However, these days major changes are often sprung up very quickly (i.e. - the "treat receipt")

Thanks for the info. I'm really not surprised we won't get the warming ovens, etc. I was really just bouncing off of sbux barrista's questions about Canada. Heck, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a warming oven until I visited this site a few months ago. And all the intense debates about the stinky breakfast sandwiches are totally irrelevant for many of us across the U.S.

But Redd's mention of a self-serve toaster is also funny, because I was once surprised to realize there's not even a measly toaster at our sbux. If I want a toasted bagel I go to STL Bread Co (Panera's), or even B&N will toast a bagel and prepare other kinds of hot sandwiches and foods. But really, from sbux I'd just be happy to get a good cup of coffee, all day. I'm really disappointed in sbux these days for not providing even the bare minimum, (and PPR and vivanno don't count :P).

And Mastrena's? Wow. Do you know which locations will get them?

[radiopromoguy]

We got the new Mastrenas about a month and a half ago. There is good and bad to them. They hold more beans, but you have to empty the drawers more often. Not that big of a deal, They are fairly easy to clean and are of course are smaller to allow you more contact with the customer. You can also control the shots better. But I don't think it foams milk nearly as well as the older machines. Actually, it does a halfway decent job with non-fat, but I have been having all kinds of trouble foaming properly for a 2% cappuccino.

[SKCDL]

I have a question about Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Lattes.

According to the recipe card, we are still supposed to top it with cinnamon dolce sprinkles, which is a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.

However, according to the nutrition guide, it still only has 90 calories for a tall, which is what all of the other skinny lattes that don't come with a sugar topping are as well.

How can this be??

[VancouverBC]

So, ... how come Canada doesn't get treat receipts, & these other special offerings?
:(

I got a "gold" card in the mail too - nothing for that yet, except 2% back. It is apparently a trial promotion for only Vancouver, B.C. & one U.S. city?? Denver???