"From the Comfy Chair": Juan isn't looking to bash Starbucks stores, really! But...

BY JUAN VALDEZ

Starbucks
4809 Kietzke Lane
Reno, Nv

When I walked in the floors were dirty.  Wow. Big surprise there, eh?  Not only was the bathroom dirty but the mirror was completely covered with stains and phlegm. What a great first impression.

The service was friendly and drink delivery took 2.5 minutes. The pastry case and cold case were clean and full...hooray. There were  2 partners on the floor when I came in...it was slow.

A 3rd partner came out...they must have been on break. A fourth partner came in and everyone just sort of stood around, talking.

Then, one of the other partners went on break and another partner went in the back leaving two partners on the floor. Then, almost as if by divine magic, the floodgates opened and they got slammed. At one point they had three or four people waiting for drinks and 10-11 were waiting in line.

Right in the middle of this sudden rush, the bar partner went in the back leaving unmade drinks and the register partner to handle things by himself. The register partner did the best he could running the line but the drink cups piled up at the bar. Then, after 2-3 minutes the bar partner came back out and started making drinks again. He wasn't carrying anything so I don't know what in the hell he went back there for unless it was to tell one of the two partners back there they needed help out front. /CONTINUED IN THE FIRST COMMENT BELOW

Comments

[JUAN VALDEZ]

If that was his intent, he failed miserably. No one came out to help. When he first went off the floor, I started timing people at the back of the line as well as new folks who came in. The six people I timed at the back took 13 minutes to get through the line and get their drinks.

At no time did anyone come out to help. It was only after the line was run and a few more minutes passed that both the partner on break and the other one came out. By this time, the rush was handled, poorly, and once again the lobby was dead. So all four partners just stood there, talking.

Because of the rush of business, the condiment bar was trashed and there were several tables that needed to be cleaned. These four partners stood around, completely ignoring the lobby and condiment bar for the next hour. Occasionally one of them went in the back, only God knows why, but that was it. The store wasn't busy and neither were the partners.

Finally one of them came out and did a lobby. It soon became clear he wasn't doing it out of concern for the store's cleanliness...as soon as he was done, boom, he was out the door and gone, baby, gone. Apparently this store does force partners to do lobbies before leaving. Based on what I witnessed, that appears to be the only time they get done.

So here's what the work flow looked like at this store:

* stand around and talk when it's not busy
* don't come out and help when it is busy
* after the rush is over, stand around and talk some more
* do a lobby before you go home.

I bet they don't even know how to spell legendary in this store, much less offer it.

Overall SBUX rating: D

Time of day: late afternoon



# of partners on the floor: 4






Service time: 2.5 minutes


Business level: slow


Was the bathroom cleaner than a gas station bathroom?: not even close

Legendary service: no

Would I recommend to a friend: no

COLUMN STATS



* # of stores reviewed where a partner has tried to connect with a customer – 11 out of 28

* # of stores where they've offered samples of anything – 2 out of 28







* # of stores that could have been considered "understaffed" - 0 out of 28

* # of stores with a clean bathroom – 15 out of 28

"Juan Valdez" is the nom de cyber of a former Starbucks manager who became disenchanted with the increasingly bitter taste of the Starbucks experience and fled to the mountains of Colombia where he now rides his burro and ponders the glittering sunsets. On a crisp clear day, when atmospheric conditions are just right and the moon is in the seventh house, Juan can be reached at [email protected]

[Coffee Soldier]

I'm wondering if Jaun travels for his job? How are you able to be in WA one week then to NV the next? Do you travel a lot for leisure or work? Come to the East Coast!!!

[Juan Valdez]

@coffee soldier

Who knows where the mystery Juan will pop up next?

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

So far I have seen Juan only on the West Coast. Maybe he should come out East?

[brown dot]

Juan needs to come to the cali desert!!!

[Ryan (SS)]

Corporate should let Juan use the private jet so he can come to the east coast! =)

[Crema_the_crop]

Ok, this may be just me...but what is with all these nasty mirrors?? My store is 10 years old and ours is pristine, no scratches, and surely never any "phlegm" stains...who spits on a mirror???

[green_cup]

I, for one, think nothing positive comes from this weekly "column."

Sure, you're pointing out a lot of stuff Starbucks probably should take care of, but, frankly, it's nothing no other fast-food chain doesn't have to deal with on a daily basis.

Your posts have this nagging, beating-a-dead-horse-that-died-about-ten-years-ago tone to it and it just makes you look like all you want to do is complain.

Who cares about your "statistics" on how many people were on the floor and if the place was busy/ not busy or overstaffed/ understaffed according to the wildly changing, extremely arbitrary set of standards you've seemed to develop in regards to what a benchmark should be for Starbucks' stores.

Two more points: (1) Starbucks has massive problems to deal with. Sure, the floors being clean should be addressed, but, come on! They're barely surviving without laying off more people. I think they have far more pressing issues to address before floors that you deem not clean (when, they were probably just mildly unclean for a couple of hours and the staff didn't have time to get to it yet). As well, capital expenditures like new mirrors for the bathrooms are low priority. I guess, at this point, be happy they even have a mirror. (2) All you do is complain. You whine about this and that... it doesn't actually serve any purpose.

I've been vocal about Starbucks, calling them out on bad service, bad products, etc, but can you just stop this inane "column?" I'd wager a bet that, at least from comment counts on various "types" of postings on this site, your "columns" rank pretty low in average participation by site readers. This is a dead-horse idea to arbitrarily rate stores based off of one bitter, ex-employee. Can we just drop it now?

[soydork]

@green_cup
thank you! well said.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

I look forward to Juan Valdez's column and inspires me to work harder at my store so it can't become "That Starbucks."

[Pat Nerr]

I like Juan's column... sure it has the same tone in many different stores... but then isn't that Starbucks issue?? Starbucks has always been great at getting defensive when called out instead of doing something to fix it.

I liken Juan's posts to that of the Snapshot program... The Snapshot-er gives a report of a moment in time at the store and then the partners spend their post-Snapshot time trying to explain why the Snapshot it wrong...

just friggin do something about it...

Keep up the Snapshots Juan...

[STARBUCKS GOSSIP WEBMASTER]

>>>>>I've been vocal about Starbucks, calling them out on bad service, bad products, etc, but can you just stop this inane "column?"

Well, so what, Green Cup? And who are you -- what are your credentials? At least Juan Valdez notes his background as a former Starbucks store manager. And you -- do you mop floors as a school janitor?

[anon]

@Green Cup,

Maybe there's a common theme/thread to Juan's columns because there is a major (and common) problem with Starbucks that needs to be addressed. Starbucks cannot hold itself out to be superior if it cannot live up to those standards.

I enjoy these columns. As someone who has never worked for Starbucks, they've highlighted to me how often I as a customer overlooked or made excuses for a poor Starbucks Experience.

Keep up the good work Juan.

[Melody]

I don't think Juan's column is "inane" at all. It's one more view of how the stores are perceived.

When a customer walks through the door, each customer has their eyes on something different that's important to them. For Winter, it appears to be the goal of getting there and then the documentation aspect of it through photography (which creates an interesting photo album!).

For me, each one of my posts tend to focus on the short moments of conversation at the register (was there eye contact? Was the barista genuine? Was there any apparent coffee enthusiasm? And most importantly, could I easily get a tall pick of the week cup of coffee drip brewed without having to go through an interrogation why I should have something else, or be shuffled off to get approval to brew from a manager). A bitter and sour personality at the register makes the experience a little less palatable.

I'm oblivious to the condiment counter, and unless the store is extremely messy, the cleanliness doesn't even register with me. Just like every house should have a bit of "lived in" look, I never expect a Starbucks to be pristinely clean.

For Juan, he has his eyes atune to a much wider range of topics that others might not even be thinking about. He's noticing floors, restrooms, and the number of baristas on the floor.

Many Starbucks customers run in and out and will never look at the restroom mirror - but that's still important to some customers.

I like having his perspective. If it seems that every episode seems to have the same theme that the baristas are unenthused about their jobs, or the stores are dirty (which does relate to tight labor on the floor), then yes, it means that Starbucks has HUGE problems to fix.

Together, you get an interesting look at Starbucks. Now, if only Juan and I could get on that corporate jet together for a couple of team east coast or remote location Starbucks visits, ;) ;)

[Competitor]

I find these columns interesting. As the franchise owner of a couple of coffee shops, I have read this website for years, as many of the comments, complaints etc apply to my stores as well.
What I find most interesting is that many Starbucks employees who post here are very patronizing and insulted that they should be compared to other "fast food" establishments. If they expect to be considered better than the rest, they need to understand that they must hold themsleves to a higher standard as well.

[Mike in Seattle]

Ah, another episode of The Comfy Toilet Seat.

Really, I'd love to see these "reviews" place the priority on what customers actually care about, like, how well was the coffee prepared or was stale coffee dumped on time.

Maybe while "Juan" is taking a stopwatch to how long it takes to pick up a dropped napkin, he could count the number of people actually using the bathrooms that seems to always get the most coverage.

[Melody]

[quote=Mike in Seattle]Really, I'd love to see these "reviews" place the priority on what customers actually care about, like, how well was the coffee prepared or was stale coffee dumped on time.[/quote]

Ah but Mike the fallacy in your thinking is that everyone wants the exact same thing at Starbucks. Not true. Everybody walks in the door wanting something different from Starbucks. For some people, the real question is, 'does the pastry case accomodate my diet?' (I am getting that from the huge number of folks on MSI that all seem to be on some special diet).

And Mike, for way more than 20 years in the history of Starbucks, no coffee suddenly became "stale" at 30 minutes. Starbucks could compromise on 45 minute hold times, and I seriously doubt any customer would be able to tell the difference. I would be most happy to take an hour long cup of Sumatra over a freshly-brewed cup of Pike Place Roast.

Mike, if you want to figure out what's important to customers, the only thing you'll learn is that customers want it all, and everything is important. You cannot suddenly talk about speed of beverage and assume that's the answer for all customers. Spend some time reading MSI. There are customers who get passionate about baby-changing tables in restrooms - that could be one more thing Juan could look for.

[Venti Americano]

Isn't it tragic how people who don't want to read Juan's articles get trapped into reading them against their wills by the unclear article titles?

I usually dig g_c's contrarianism, and the emotional outbursts they precipitate, but this one was stupid.

[Splash!]

Bravo, Melody! I agree with all of it. I continue to think that partners get so bent out of shape at Juan's articles because they see the same issues in their own stores, and would rather shoot the messenger than address them.

thanks Juan!

[Juan Valdez]

@brown dot

Don't worry, I'm on my way. Think in terms of Ray Bradbury's classic novel "Something Wicked This Way Comes". :)

[North Star Barista]

I like Juan's input...gives me another perspective on my job.

A lifelong friend works at a SBUX in the burbs of Seattle, I work at SBUX in the burbs of Mpls. Our SBUX experiences are worlds apart. Juan's posts and the various responses give me a wider reality.

Keep up the great work.

[Juan Valdez]

I'd like to thank all for their feedback (even the..er...challenging ones) - keep it coming!

I'm well aware that there's a certain similarity between most of my visits. All I can say is that's more a reflection of what I've been seeing in the stores than anything else. I'm simply not going to make things up just because some readers think I'm always harping on the same things. My visits consistently look at the same areas every time. I do, in fact, talk about the coffee at times...Ive talked about when my cup is light, the differences between the clover cup and a regular cup and even the taste of the espresso when compared to McDonalds. If I were running into a bad cup of coffee every trip, I'd likely be talking about it more however that's really not what I see as being SBUX biggest problem (and Melody, I'm not minimizing, for an instant, your continuing battle to not only get bold coffee but also the way you're dealt with when you raise the issue - you have every right to be upset and, frankly, I think SBUX should be ashamed at how they treat you).

I give tons of kudos when I get a great experience (stay tuned for next week's column to see what I mean)...unfortunately for SBUX, that doesn't happen nearly as much as it should. If it's happening to me, it sure as heck is happening to others.

Although some take me to task for focusing on things they don't find to be important, I'd like to point out there are some things I don't mention which used to be part of what SBUX does such as:

high dusting (routinely bad)
window ledges (routinely bad even in some of the really good stores)

What I've tried to do is focus on those things that are generally acknowledged to be important, both from a customer point of view and a management point of view. I absolutely guarantee if Howard had walked into this particular store on Kietzke Lane while I was there, there would have been phone calls made...and you know what those are all about, right Pat?

[HoratioBucks]

I agree with green_cup (which I rarely do) and Soydork (love the name!). I hate coming onto this site and seeing yet another 'Juan Valdez'. The first couple of times it was interesting, but now it's just boring.

[comeonpeople]

I am the opposite of HoratioBucks- I actually didn't enjoy the Juan Valdez posts at first, but they are really growing on me. The reason that I enjoy them is because I can't stand "those" partners who sit around talking, don't do the basics of their job, and yet complain when it's pointed out to them. It really is not that difficult to do what we need to do to keep our stores cleaned, organized, and keep customers moving through quickly.

What I am noticing is that most of the Juan Valdez complainers are also the ones who probably are guilty of being "those" partners.

And I think its hilarious that green cup calls out Juan Valdez's posts, when they are just calling out (in a more objective way) what green cup always calls out, just from a differnet perspective(customer, stalker, call it what you will).

Props to the webmaster for the kung-fu kick to green cup.

[An awesome homosexual shift supervisor in northern new england]

A couple of things: I love juan valdez's columns each week. As pat nerr said before it reminds me of the prior snapshot system. I loved that system more than these customer surveys...

Webmaster: thank you for knocking green cup down a peg. He/she is quite annoying.

Now we need someone on the east coast to do the same type of column...maybe have a partner in drag do it on a weekly basis...The drag person's nom de plume could be Anita Mastrena. Heck I'd even be willing to do it.

[facereality]

I agree with comeonpeople - it's ridiculous for green_cup to go around calling people to account for not providing good service, or for complaining about customers

- and then to turn around and say "I guess, at this point, be happy they even have a mirror. ".

That's just a pathetic statement. If the senior management at Starbucks has so mismanaged the company that they cannot afford the capex for a replacement mirror occassionally, they should be held to account. Oh, what, they have excuses? Reeallyy? Yeah, buddy, we've all got excuses. Suck it up. You want to be a premium fast food establishment, figure out how to pay for new mirrors. If not, fine, you're not capable of managing a premium fast food company.

I've actually agreed with most of green_cups posts, if not the way they were stated.

But for green_cup to wander around posting these holier than thou style comments, then come here and whine, is pretty pathetic.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

Even the Boston Starbucks Rebel finds Juan Valdez's column insightful. I look forward to reading it each week.

[Really?]

Really?

You think 10 people in line and 3 or 4 people waiting for drinks is slammed???

Come into my store lets say 8:30am any weekday. We'll have upwards of 20 people in line, and 10 waiting for drinks. Everyone's in and out in 3 minutes apiece.

[ANOTHER BOSTON STARBUCKIAN]

I love Juan's column too... I just wish s/he made it over to the East Coast where the stores are clean and the partners are legendary.

Boston Starbucks Rebel.... come work in my store. We'd undoubtedly have the best store in the WORLD.

[GRTL]

I feel bad for the customers at my store. The staff is not all equal and a lot of my partners don't care about any standards whatsoever. I have tried to coach important aspects that are quality standards and it just completely turns into them thinking I'm a b*tch. I don't know what to do anymore. I feel bad when because I work with a bunch of bar princesses and I'm stuck on the register every time I see a drink handed off because I know who is making the drink and how bad the quality it will be. Whether it be resteamed milk or cold milk having been poured in an unrinsed pitcher or even a pitcher with already hot milk in it....I mean should I care. I feel at this point all I can do is make the best beverages when I am on bar and hope someone notices. I don't even want these people making my drinks because yes I have seen them do it to mine and called them on it.

I really feel for those customers handing me $4.

[Aces of Eight]

Slammed is when you have a line out the door that continues for 2-3 hours.

[Munchkin]

@Really

So, you're saying that if I'm the last person in that line of 20, I'll have my drink in hand and walking out the door in 3 minutes! Ha! You're dreaming. Your sense of time is completely warped. That would mean you are making one transaction every 9 seconds! Your store would be pulling 200 customers per half-hour!

[scshc]

oh yeah at my store we have customers in and out so fast they actually GAIN time in their day.

chuck norris is our dm.

[No. Va. SM]

You don't need to read juan valdez's column to see your store from a different perspective and to find a new way to look at your store so it doesn't become "that store" All you have to do is a values walk daily and you learn to see the small details like dirty window ledges, smudges on windows, and dirty baseboards. I'm not denigrating juan's column at all. It's simple feedback. Nothing wrong with that. I sometimes read it and sometimes don't, but all he is doing is a values walk. We're all supposed to be doing them twice a day. Try it....it might work...

[Really?]

@ Munchkin

20 in line with 10 waiting for bar drinks is maximum.

We pull through around 150 per half hour with three registers. You also have to consider that my store has very high drip, so customers can be served quickly.

And you CAN pull through a customer every nine seconds. If you have three registers open, with experienced partners, it would mean the partner's average serving time per customer is 27 seconds. That's definitely doable. At our busiest we have 7 partners on the floor (3 reg, 2 bar, 2 floaters) plus a cafe attendant.

I don't think my sense of time is warped-- maybe you just can't move fast enough!

[usorthem3]

Really? with that staffing i can see it is possible. what kind of numbers would a staff of one register, one bar, and floater be able to do in your opinion. this staffing is only during the 7:30 to 9:30 period then two the rest of the day except for 15 minute shift changes .just curious?

[prosumer]

@Munchkin

You may have misread Really's post. Really said customers are out in 3 minutes apiece, not that all 20 customers are getting their drinks within a 3 minute frame of time.

[(former) FLA SM]

Chuck Norris can steam milk just by staring at it.

[scshc]

one drink orders of ppr, old milk...oh and 7 partners. anyone can get customers in and out of a bux

[Really?]

@scshc

I would have said that at one time too, but it's not true. Our sales mix is 30% drip. We serve bold all day. Are baristas are terrific and milk is never old or resteamed.

Instead of expecting a Starbucks to fail, just assume I'm telling the truth. I expect greatness out of my partners- and because I do, we achieve results.

@usorthem3

3 partner deployment is still very efficient. Our stores are built to ideally staff not much more than 4 partners on the floor. When you add on baristas, you tend to get traffic jams more often, between floaters and beverage position partners. You have to restock cups and milk more often during the busier times making it difficult to be truly efficient. Having specific partners stay planted is key.

Our 3 partner deployment can pull in around 50ish per half hour, if no filler tasks need to get done. I say this because usually the only time we'll have 3 partners is in opening, mid-day, and closing- our specified time to complete filler tasks like prep. When we need to focus on customers, we do, and set prep aside, and that's when we can perform and pull through a lot of customers.

[StLouieDrip]

This is so dumb. [rolls eyes]

My math is really terrible, but while doing a little roundabout math, I come up with this...

150 custies per half hour,

divided by 7, (21.4)

times 2, (42.8)

means you can manage only 43 customers per half hour WITH 2 PEOPLE.

And it also means that 43 custies per half hour for 2 people (as defined by Really?) is being "slammed." (or maybe even bump it up to 50ish per half hour with 3 people? Quote: "Our 3 partner deployment can pull in around 50ish per half hour...")

Heck, maybe that means you're still better than the ones in the article, (I suspect you probably are), but at least start with an even playing field in this coffee-pissing contest. [rolls eyes again]

Also don't forget to consider that one of those "2" people in the article also disappeared for a while, leaving just 1 person out front to handle the crowd. Somehow I'd guess that that one person did indeed feel "slammed" for a time.

Of course none of that excuses the slackers... or the filth. Whenever I visited a store where standing around chatting was a higher priority than cleanliness, or when the team didn't work smoothly together as a unit, supporting each other, I didn't ever do a return visit. So yeah, from a customer perspective, it matters a lot.

(BTW I also like Juan Valdez's articles. ;-))

[usorthem3]

Really? and StLouisDrip i can't seem to do that and do spins every ten minutes when the timer goes off , with two the floor most times but three for and hour and half in the morning. that's my staffing no more ever. and now into all that a cadence two, three, 4. maybe it's just my perception but that is not the legendary way of our original core. head them up and move it out then is it ? so be it then. two, three, four, and the monkey turns the crank. i'll do my best.

[StLouieDrip]

Usorthem3, I didn't intend to criticize those of you who are overworked and underappreciated by this company. I'm much less critical of dirty stores when it's obvious the store is just short-staffed while everyone is working like crazy trying to keep up. But it still doesn't entice me back. That's because settling down for an hour with a book and a drip while surrounded by dirty tables is just a huge turn-off for me. I am aware that some do their best under impossible circumstances, and it's very obvious to me. But some others do as little as possible, and that's also very obvious. I'm sorry that so many bad apples got mixed in with the good.

Honestly most of our stores here do keep a reasonably clean lobby, but that just makes the couple of bad ones look that much worse.

Another funny thing... I was usually there during the slowest periods, and I used to get sooo annoyed that when I headed to the condiment bar there often seemed to be someone rushing over there at the same time, wiping, and straightening, and filling napkins holders, and refilling sugars, and emptying the trash bin, and refilling half-and-half, and coffee stirrers. OMG I used to inwardly grit my teeth because, dammit, they were in my freakin way! GAH! Now I realize (from reading this blog) that they likely heard me say "PLENTY of room" and probably rushed over to get there before I encountered a mess that had been too long ignored. LOL. So, a new perspective is sometimes a good thing, yes. :-)