If they give free refills, I'll never get a table!

I've gone to the mom & pops in my area (which popped up like mushrooms after Starbucks opened). I've tried the mom & pops and if I'm gonna fork over $3-4 for a latte, the barista had better make a good one. It's been a rare occasion that mom OR pop made a better latte than Starbucks - it's not just the quality of the ingredients, it's the training. I'll go to Starbucks anytime a cup o' joe - at least I know exactly what I'm getting. And it ain't been sitting around for hours either.

I submit that there are MORE mom & pops riding Starbucks coattails since Starbucks' success in the last decade. I'm also mystified why people love to hate Starbucks but will frequent McD's, BK, etc. daily, weekly. Adds up, folks, in terms of finances and health.

And what about those who will pay $6-8 for a glass of cheap wine or a cocktail in a restaurant or bar? How is that different than buying an expensive coffee drink?

This is an immensely foolish strategy for Starbuck's.

The executives who are recommending it should be fired at once.

A coffee shop has never been about "the coffee." A coffee shop is "a place."

Used to live in Spain and it was a nice and simple "cafe con leche" that everyone drank...way better than Starbucks!

SB's has been a rip off for coffee just like the local 7-11....yuks.....

stop dropping the price, and start improving the VALUE. only brew ORGANIC, FREE TRADE, UNBURNED coffees with ORGANIC milk and treat employees well.

it's not that hard to figure out how to turn a 4 cent product into a profit, and since people are more socially conscious than ever, why not lead the charge, instead of heading the other way?

I avoid Starbucks because of the jerks in front of me that order 5 minute drinks. What is the point of drinking a fine coffee if you have to turn it into a milkshake?

Gimme a medium coffee, strong, caffinated, no perfume, black.

My girlfriend dropped her coffee bean habit when I introduced her to Folgers Columbian. Skip all the other roasts, and check your ego at the door, it makes a great cup of home brew.

I'm a really old guy. I remember sitting at a Woolworth's counter drinking a bottomless cup for ten cents. Todays dollar is worth about a dime so I guess we are back to the future. However, I don't think the Starbucks regulars are going to want to rub elbows with the riffraff.

I'd say that's better than throwing out the old pot which may not be selling as fast. I'm so old I remember when you could get a cup of coffee for a nickel than a dime!

Oh geez ... another Starbucks article where in-the-know hipster-minded suburban slaves or toe-the-line baby boomer hold-backs can profess how awful the coffee is, how overpriced it is, how the customers are such dumbeaus. Oh, we all rue the green, burnt, paper endoctrination to American mediocrity that is distilled into our infant capitalist souls by the *$ juggernaut. And the beat goes on.

Selling for a buck won't make their coffee any less bitter or less acid-producing in the stomach.

Now $1 coffee, next:"Want fries with that?"

How can one trust a big company in American to meet the needs of customers when their interest is not the customer, it just about profit.
Ohg
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/01/12/coffee-and-the-american-gourmet-experience/

Brewed coffee at Starbucks is about the same price as McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, or any other coffee place.

Is $4 for a latte overpriced? Probably, but at least compare apples-to-apples. Calling it a "$4 cup of coffee" is either ignorant or deliberately misleading.