Seeing that Kellogg’s, Weight Watchers and all the fancy sports clubs in Manhattan opened the year with declaring war on national obesity under the slogan “diet or die,” Starbucks joined in with a relevant “Skinny Latte” campaign too. I used to be a happy coffee drinker totally oblivious of such irrelevant facts as calorie contents - until now. Thank you, so much! I will add this one to my “Reasons Why I Hate the Starbucks phenomenon” list.
Then, I opened the Business pages of the New York Times today (after my four day boycott due to their public endorsement of the “appropriate” presidential candidates) and I found this heartbreaking story of Starbucks store closings. I got so excited after reading that they might potentially get rid of a hundred (!) under performing stores across the US that I almost skipped the main chart at the left bottom of the article. I was thinking, well finally 2008 may well be a lean year for dedicated weight fighters and the Coffee Predator too. Hahaa!
And then came the chart-shock which put the drama of the day into statistical context turning it into a tragicomedy. The coffee behemoth owns 15,000 stores around the world so closing a hundred is clearly a minute storm in the coffee cup. As the company realized that US coffee addicts suffer from Starbucks-fatigue, in 2008 it decided to focus on Starbucks-rookie overseas markets. (Yes, they will make coffee history in Hungary too this year, which will officially conclude our post-communist reintegration to the civilized world. It was high time.)
Nevertheless, the age of fatigue of some sort finally arrived at least to the US. Starbucks representatives said that the main reason behind the closings is the company’s recognition of the “cannibalization”, “over-saturation” and “commoditization” of the “Starbucks Experience.” A.k.a. vandalizing coffee culture and degrading baristas to chain-producer corporate slaves who are totally alienated from the caffeine-rich “output.”
After a historical drop in domestic Starbucks consumption, the marketing department finally realized that it might be a good idea to turn “back to back” as cozy coffee shops across the street are enjoying loyal customer support and steady demand with offering a set of, say, five coffee options instead of 150.
The fascinating thing about this phenomenon is the long circle the company made. It started with coffee it became an entirely different story with sugar-free cinnamon dolce syrups, smelly morning sandwiches and pre-packed chicken curry salads (what does THAT has to do with an espresso?) but now it is heading back to the original "coffee thing" again.
It's been a long way, indeed. It opened its first stores with the vision that one day its brand name will be the synonym of coffee. In many ways, and for many it is today indeed. To have a “Starbucks break” (i.e. coffee break) and to “grab a Starbucks” (i.e. have a coffee) have become an inherent a part of the American language, the two words being mutually exchangeable. But as we have seen dot com bubbles and housing bubbles burst, Starbucks had better swam than sank before a more painful downturn kicks in.
If this involves turning noisy glocal skim-latte factories into cozier coffee shops with better service, more to-stay options and shifting the focus from the branding process to the brewing process, all the better for the black-water buffs. If not, even the most addicted ones will learn how to make two inch high milk foam and a perfect espresso at home.
