Starbucks Closing Stores Today

For three hours on Tuesday, Starbucks will shut down every single one of its 7,100 stores so that baristas can receive a refresher course on how best to improve the coffee customer experience.

Among the various lessons that will be re-taught include how to wipe the steamer wands and remembering to rinse the pitchers and shot glasses every time.

As a spokeswoman tells the Seattle Times:

"We will have all new standards for how we create the drinks...[Employees] will be trained in creating the perfect shot, steaming the milk and all the pieces that come together in a drink."

As requested by CEO Howard Schultz, the unprecedented training session will take place between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. and affect approximately 135,000 employees.

To compete, rival Dunkin' Donuts will drop its price for a small coffee down to $0.99 from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. as "to ensure that no coffee lover is denied a delicious espresso-based beverage."

Schultz is calling for the re-education to combat a recent series of setbacks. As reported in the Guardian:

The company's shares dived 42% last year on signs that consumers were falling out of love with Starbucks. Investors were alarmed by figures showing a 1% fall in the average number of transactions per store.

In a raft of changes aimed at restoring momentum, Starbucks is cutting 600 jobs, introducing free wireless internet connection and axing hot breakfast sandwiches, which were criticised for interfering with the aroma of coffee.

Comments

[studlyguy]

stop drinking starbucks burnt tasting coffee 2 years ago when they started getting greedy raising prices,and just drinking it at home,and my home made coffee tasted a lot better ,i said why did i throw away my hard earned money away on OVER PRICED BAD COFFEE,but i cured myself of the disease of starbucks bad coffee,

[karrezza]

You are soooo correct, it does taste burnt every time!

[adzeman]

Funny, as I face spiking cost of living, and no spike in income I look at Starbucks as a luxury I can no longer afford. C'est la vie.

[Perdurabo]

Yep, it's definitely become luxury item.

I predict they will not be able to survive a protracted recession/depression.

[emsique]

Sales are down because the economy is down. The first thing to go when money is tight are the luxuries, and groovy coffee drinks are a definite luxury. The addicts start drinking regular coffee that they make themselves.

[iPolitics]

Starbucks just institued the $1 cup of coffee. They've always had it, but Starbucks charged $6 for it

[AKJM]

good one!!

[lovesit]

who needs to be "one" with coffee, seriously, I think people should be "one" with their dogs, but coffee??
http://digitalfuntown.squarespace.com/dft-blog/2008/2/26/short-shorts-this-dog-loves-techno.html

[adzeman]

If food gets more expensive, my dog goes on the menu!

[paixa3]

Noting like WOKKING a dog eh?

[fumes]

the esam3300?

[tbone99]

They're putting the addicts on notice -

[VcKrc]

.99 coffee from 1-10pm? Is this the best they can do?

[PookyShoehorn]

I believe everyone who works in a Starbucks is called a "barista." So it seems to me that wit the job cuts, the training will really entail telling the leftover "baristas" all the additional duties they'll have to take on.

[phillynative]

Couldn't agree more Bogey 907! Schultz and Co. wouldn't know a good cup of coffee if it sat on their face.

[Bogey907]

Improve the customer experience? Stop selling burned coffee. That would help.

[43P04T34]

I bought a very nice high end Delonghi espresso machine for my family at Xmas, (the only present under the tree, actually) specifically to put an end to everyone going to these coffee places and plunking down damn near $4 per drink. I think we're drinking more coffee than ever but we are saving a TON of money and the coffee and steamed milk drinks that we make with this new espresso machine are really excellent. I mean, you just push a button and the drink appears. It's made our kitchen more of a place where everyone hangs out in the morning, and when it's chilly outside. I am very glad that I did this. Next, I'm going to put a hearth in the kitchen so we can bake bread and pizza right here at home.

[LitDr2B]

What a great way to opt out of mass consumerism, and to spend time with the family!

[43P04T34]

Well, heck since at least you appreciate that, I'll tell you another one. About 5 years ago I spent $8,000 to gut and transform a part of the home into a soundproof home theater with movable seats and a tile floor so that the kids could play ping pong or whatever, hang out there, and have fun so that they would have a place to just be themselves with their friends. Yeah, sometimes the music's a little loud, but now that they're all in high school & nearby colleges I am always glad to know that they're having fun and they're safe. Our house is built for the kids and they aren't always trying to figure out where to go to have a good time.

[pithy]

The were the yuppie hula-hoops - a fad that made overpaid youngsters feel very cool about themselves because they could pay some stupidly high price for a cup of coffee.

Going, going, gone - and good riddance.

If you're 30-something, have $800 pairs of eye glasses, $600 purses and $2000 toilets, it's time to look around and see their are millions of hungry children on this planet.

[paixa3]

Many of them spend time looking in the mirror and chanting "I AM SO DAMN GREAT".

[unclebucky]

Um.

I never go to Starbuck's. I choose instead to go to a Mom and Pop, Panera or Caribou.

Why? Because there, my visit is not engineered through the music, the barista activity, and hard seats. Because the coffee is fair trade, tastier, and never BURNT. Because I don't get insulted by the staff, unlike the snooty clerks at Starbuck's. Because I get wifi when I need it. Because the customer experience is BETTER, in other words, at any place but Starbucks.

There.

Ugh.

--UB.

[fedup07]

Starbucks closes "to improve the coffee customer experience" I would think the customers who wanted a cup of coffee during BUSINESS hours are thinking that's not quite the way to "improve" the customer experience!!
HAHAHAHA -that's funny!

[scoundrel]

Having worked for Starbucks as a barista and lead clerk many years ago, I'm used to certain voices rising up whenever the company is in the news and railing about how utterly terrible Starbucks is as both a coffee and as a company.

The coffee doesn't taste good, or it's too strong, or it's burnt. It's too expensive. The stores are a blight which have driven the 'mom and pop' coffeehouses out of business. Yada yada yada....

It always seemed odd to me that people would go on and on about not liking the taste or the price. Um, so don't buy it and don't drink it - problem solved. It's not like I go on tirades about the taste of eggplant and try to incite the masses to torch any fields where they grow. Plus, obviously there are a fair number of people who feel differently about Starbucks coffee and the company has been rather successful.

And while making the various coffee drinks isn't rocket science, it was something Starbucks felt important enough to put me through a barrage of classes on before I could start working in the stores. Oh, and as an employee, I got medical/dental insurance, employee stock options, and a pound of coffee each week. Seems to me that training and taking care of one's employees isn't cheap, so that might've had a little to do with the drinks being "expensive".

I'm a bit curious how people justify the argument that Starbucks put other coffeehouses out of business. After all, they can't be accused of undercutting their prices to beat the competition, (unlike Walmart and the major grocery chains). In fact, people I knew who worked at other coffeehouses uniformly told me that the increased "coffee culture" awareness Starbucks brought actually improved their sales as well. People never seem to consider the possibility that many coffeehouses, like other small businesses, closed because they were mismanaged. Besides, it's a lot easier to blame the Starbucks down the street rather than admit one's own mistakes.

No, I'm not saying that Starbucks is perfect - and yes, the stores have become ubiquitous in the last ten years. But I have a hard time thinking of any other successful chains that have worked so hard to deliver a quality product, take care of it's workers, create a warm, inviting store environment, and give back to both the community as well as the coffee producing farms where it buys it's beans.

Holding on to both the culture and the commitment to quality is the hardest thing about growing as quickly as Starbucks has. And many could argue that it shouldn't have tried to grow so fast. I remember my time there. I remember a lot of hard work with a lot of hard hours. I remember working with really great and passionate people. And while the company definitely had it's growing pains and missteps, I remember feeling like it was genuinely trying to 'do the right thing'.

Be cynical if you want, but I think Howard Schultz is having this company-wide training session because he continues to strive to 'do the right thing'. Paying their entire workforce for three hours of extra training while losing three hours of business at every store...um, a publicity stunt?! Suuure, that makes perfect fiscal sense. There are more than enough very real corporate "bad guys" that deserve our attention; seems to me that it's high time we stopped pretending that Starbucks is one of them.

[PookyShoehorn]

I don't buy it and I don't drink it. Yes, we exist.

[GQB]

Well put.
I think the elitism about smaller shops vs Starbucks is a little silly.

[bavb63]

Love the eggplant analogy, you are right.

It seems to me that people just LOVE to complain about anything Starbucks. Sometimes i feel like Starbucks, sometimes i feel like Mom and Pop. Personally, I think people are mad that Starbucks offers health insurance and educational benefits to workers. How dare they! Mom and Pop don't do that! Oh and Duncan Donuts - Pleeeeaaassssseeee! As if they can compare. At Starbucks you pay for the nice table your sitting at, deal with it!

[skatscan]

I agree with your take. I lived in Seattle for 14 years. They CREATED a mom and pop industry. There are tons of independent stores and espresso carts in the city, most of which opened since the Starbucks boom. They are priced lower and offer a more unique experience so I chose to go to those.

I'm not down on Starbucks but I'm not into their hot beverages. I prefer their Frappucinos to anyone else's version of that drink. Starbucks treats its employees better than most service industry jobs and allows you to make extra money with tips.

They just grew too fast and too big which affected their quality.

Dunkin Donuts on the other hand has gotten so bad since its most recent boom and judging by the lack of American born employees, probably pays low.

[editorjuno]

Unlike Starbucks, afaik Dunkin' Donuts stores are mostly operated under franchise -- therefore the corporation doesn't control wages, benefits, or who gets hired.

[GalaxieGal]

Thanks presenting a different way to look at this. Like them or not, it's refreshing to hear that they are good to their employees. I'm sure that isn't true for everyone who ever worked there, but the people I know that did say it was a positive experience.

[H8FascistCons]

Well said but their coffee still tastes burnt. Won't go to Starbucks because of lack of public facilities to wash hands before eating.

[DMSmith]

HUH?? I'vwe been to many Starbuck's and I've never seen one without perfectly nice bathrooms with sinks.

What ARE you talking about??