VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

jsgilbert

In honor of Starbucks now owning both Juan Valdez and his donkey, along with the seemingly impossible feat of "5 Hour EnergyDrink" reaching $300 million in annual sales, I present the following.

http://jsgilbert.com/?p=865

Please leave your comments if you'd like
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j.s. gilbert

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"today is the first day of the rest of the week"

Mushmelon · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:58 pm Post subject:

Yeaaaaa!!! Yet another well written article. I so enjoy reading your blog.
And...I am peeing myself over the "Depend" reference...(no pun intended)
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ccpetersen · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 9:17 pm Post subject:

I had a good laugh at the column! Too true!

You know... I'm kind of old-fashioned.

I like to treat visits to Sbux as a special thing, not an everyday thing.

It helps that I live so far up in the boonies that the nearest coffee shop is also a tarot and palm-reading room that sells ice cream and used books along with crystal jewelry made by mountain women who user their laptops and iPads to check their stock accounts on the free wireless access provided by the owner. Right next door to the medicinal weed dispensary.

Try getting THAT kind of ambience at your local Sbux!

I have to drive at least 25 miles to get to a Sbux, down in Boulder, Colorado. That means, it's has to be a special occasion, as I will NOT rev up the flivver just for that.

I stopped there tonight on my way back from the University, where I attended a lecture about the MESSENGER spacecraft orbital insertion at Mercury... and I wanted a warm drink to keep me going as I drove home back up the canyon through the snowstorm that blew in suddenly late today. THAT visit was special and worth whipping out the Sbux gift card that I got for Christmas.

But everyday? I don't think so.

Besides, like JS, I actually LIKE to make coffee, too. I like to buy beans and grind my own special blends. The whole thing makes the house smell nice on those cold Rocky Mountain mornings.

You can't buy THAT at Sbux.

CC "GET OFF MY LAWN YOU KIDS" Petersen
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Lizden · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 9:27 pm Post subject:

Nice, JS! (I also loved the Depends reference...your mind is an interesting place, my dear!)

OK...I'll admit it...I like SBUX Cappuccino.
But, although the nearest one to me is only about a mile away, it's still only an occasional/rare treat.....like the one I bought for the drive to our monthly MCA-INJ meeting on Tuesday...hey...I had to make a HUGE detour to pick up Melissa...I NEEDED that pick-me-up! Wink

The again...my husband makes the coffee...so all I have to do is pour it. Wink

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Bish · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 7:14 am Post subject:

JS, I'm starting to file your blog in my "well written and interesting" bookmark folder. I appreciate you highlighting your last couple of entries here.

I have been know to enter into the occasional Starbucks rant, but my problem is that although I'm not happy with the way nearly every independent "real" coffee shop is being driven out of business or the way they are becoming synonymous with "bespoke" coffee in the eyes of the public, I can't fault their business plan or the fact that they are one of the more enlightened employers in this market sector. They treat their employees pretty well and have a very low hours-per-week requirement before health care eligibility.

Part of the new-found coffee evangelism is brought about by the way coffee was devalued over the years... as the post-war cost of the raw materials rose, the diners and coffee-shops throughout the land weakened the product to maintain the magical 10c per cup and free refills. Couple that with the rise of instant coffee for our daily dose, the world became ripe for a coffee revolution. Students of politics and social engineering will also want to add that in a world where we have no choice about whether we go to war or not, being able to choose between one hundred and ninety three different ways to drink our coffee gives us the illusion that we have real choices in life.

However... this is where I stand up at the front of the room and declare, "I'm a coffee addict" ... I roast my own beans and mix my own espresso and drip blends... although I have to admit that I can't keep up with the household demand for the drip... so I have taken to "enlivening" pre-bought Colombian (yes, the big-box store 3ib bags!) with my home roast for the daily drip brews. But the espresso... I'm still searching for the elusive "god-shot".

I welcome the new wave of coffee appreciation, but I don't think that Starbucks is able to meet the "bespoke" requirements of an educated clientele (not the majority of their customers). When they started, their baristas were trained in the use of the real espresso process... you know, like in a real coffee shop, the ones where you have to grind the beans just right, fill the portafilter head with just the correct amount, pack it down with a hand tamper to just the right density and then pull the shot for exactly 27 seconds... now they hit a button on an automatic machine, and a shot comes out. It's a slippery slope and I feel cheated... is Starbucks going to follow the path of the diner? Is there a new market opportunity for small outlets that serve coffee the way Starbucks used to? Is there an absurdity in the way that their earlier iteration can be viewed with nostalgia?

I've obviously had faaaaar too much coffee this morning already.
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Lizden · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 8:10 am Post subject:

Bruce · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:43 am Post subject:

Coffee is a happy ritual here too. I order my beans from Peet's in San Francisco...rich and tasty. Expensive too, about $15 a pound with shipping. That works out to about $10 a week, or $1.43 a day, 5 big mugs worth between us, or 28 cents a serving for a quality brew.

Back on topic...Hey, this is classic American business creation and marketing. Identify a need (or create one where one didn't exist) and offer a solution. As long as we have enough disposable income some of us will buy our 28 cent cup of brew for 3 to 5 dollars instead, and with a lot of extra calories thrown in the case of Starbucks et al.

Admittedly some folks don't like the taste of coffee and that's probably a driving force behind those sugary energy drinks. So instead of drinking a 50 cent Mountain Dew or Coke, now you can spend 3 bucks on a power drink or some goo in a plastic bottle.

What a country.

B
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jsgilbert · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:00 am Post subject:

Better stock up on that Peet's. It's looking good for a Starbucks takeover of Peets before the Summer.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11046470/1/should-starbucks-buy-peets-coffee.html

Just one of several articles on the subject. Of course, being that I'm in the proverbial backyard, word on the street says it's pretty much already a done deal.

<sigh>
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"today is the first day of the rest of the week"

Bruce · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:17 am Post subject:

Bish · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:50 am Post subject:

I'm guessing, but this may not be as bad as it sounds. In a simplistic way there are two types of takeover... in the first, the brand and it's retail locations are assimilated into the Starbucks mother ship (think Borg)... some redundant locations and/or staff will be released, but basically the competition is bought-out and absorbed. In a more enlightened takeover, the brand identity and it's market share are maintained, (again, giving the illusion of choice) and the profits from this "competitor" are channeled back to the new parent. The most dramatic example of this recently was the Amazon takeover of Zappos. Now, Zappos had establish a good customer base because of loyalty due extremely good customer service and exchange policies. Amazon's mandate to Zappos was to carry on doing what they're doing and maintain themselves as a definable entity with the same standards.

So, does Starbucks think that their profits are better served by maintaining a choice in the marketplace, or by just killing the competition? Personally, I think that Starbucks management are actually offended by any coffee shop that isn't displaying a green mermaid sign!
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Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

Eddie Eagle · M&M Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 2393

Diane Maggipinto · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 11:18 am Post subject:

poor dan-o. feeling sorry for him again in this thread .

i started a coffee co-op among my self-employed local contacts/friends.
i get a real good price, probably 2/3 retail.
free shipping at 30#+.
inquire within.
songbird-friendly, organic if you want, localish to me, caffe ibis.
nearly all of us get the triple-certified, double french roast.
why drink anything else?

best coffee EVAR
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Jen Gosnell · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 12:41 am Post subject:

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 1:20 am Post subject:

Pioneer coffee up here in Cle Elum Washington. Good stuff: https://www.pioneercoffeeco.com/index.htm
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