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Gee, I Wonder What Cities Starbucks CEO Johnson Is Talking About…
Bloomberg reports Starbucks is closing 150 stores. Inquiring minds might like to ask “Why?”
“The closing stores are often in ‘major metro areas where increases in wage and occupancy and other regulatory requirements’ are making them unprofitable, CEO Johnson said.”
After the $15/hour minimum wage, and the ridiculous restrictions on opening any kind of business, might the Seattle City Council’s repeal of the head tax have come too little, too late?
Published in General
Gee, maybe they’ll look at all the corners in Seattle where there’s a Starbucks across the street from a Seattle’s Best?
I never understood the business model. Stand in line and over pay for a cup of coffee.
It is a shame and a snapshot of what our democracy has become when a coffee shop cannot sustain itself sue to wage disputes, political correctness run amok and bad press. Unfortunately, by caving to the demands of liberals, they are paying the price. Heads up to any business: you can be controlled or ruined by anyone who walks in and has a beef with your policies. State what they are up front and if you don’t want to work there, or buy coffee, move on.
Starbucks IS Liberal! To the core! They asked for this!
Big story on the front page of the KOMO News Web site tonight is the new law taking effect in Seattle on July 1, banning plastic straws, utensils, and cocktail picks in all food-service establishments. Starbucks straws are plastic. How much inventory will they have to move to stores in the suburbs?
As I have been saying a lot lately, just one more good reason to stay the hell out of Seattle.
Oh, and their ticker is SBUX.
McDonald’s where I live is a mess. The help is terrible and doesn’t seem supervised. They have put self serve machines and cut back on counter help.
While I am not that upset about the corporate store profits, the employees who will be out of work break my heart.
FIFY
We go from food deserts to coffee deserts. Which will really attract the attention of and action from the American voter?
My first thought was: I wonder if they’ll be closing that store in Philly? Thereby crushing the dreams of all those wanna-be free bathroom-users…
Hat tip to Todd Herman who points out that Seattle is more disapproving of plastic straws than they are of heroin needles.
I love it when Reality smacks liberals upside the head.
Perhaps people are switching to Chick-fil-a for coffee.
And coffee desserts.
That’s a terror for me, Sue.
That one took me a while.
It was rough, but I couldn’t resist.
Or they could start with the corners where there’s a Starbucks across the street from….another Starbucks.
I wish that sentence were parody, but I’ve seen it numerous times. Indeed, the density of Starbucks in the financial/tourist districts of many coastal liberal cities is so high that most customers probably won’t notice the absence of the closing locations – the next one will still only be 15 seconds away.
The laid-off employees, on the other hand, probably will notice a difference.
Unfortunately, the type of liberal who crusades for $15/hour minimum wages and head taxes on big local companies is probably also the type of liberal who thinks Starbucks is an evil corporate behemoth and will be happy to see them leave.
Although it was truly funny when San Francisco passed its minimum wage hike a few years back, and one of the first victims was a used record store in the Mission with a cult-like following. The owner basically said in the local paper that he was closing because everyone loved to come into his store but almost nobody actually bought something, for which he was then raked over the coals in the comment section by his own customer base for being a greedy, profit-hungry capitalist.
Also, their new bathroom policy conflicts with many of their locations. In New Haven, they recently closed the location across the street from the main downtown bus stop. They opened a new location at the relatively vagrant free opposite end of the New Haven Green.
This, and all such actions, show in bass relief that any successful business is at heart a business. They may say stupid things publicly but decisions made at the core will be business decisions or else the business will cease operation entirely. So what is revealed is not the nature of business itself but the ignorance or mis-education of the general public which actually seems to think a business can violate good business principles and prosper.That is a failure of education both by the public schools and our media including the movie industry. To demand good paying jobs while denouncing sound business practices is either lunacy or idiocy. Anyone, politician, educator or movie producer who knowingly perpetrates such fraudulent misinformation to enhance their personal fortune is scandalously selfish and despicable.
But they have darn good coffee.
It is a proven fact that two Starbucks across the street from one another do not cannibalize each other’s business. Both thrive. It’s sort of like gas stations on opposite corners-they serve slightly different populations. Not far from my home, there is a Fred Meyer with a Starbucks inside. Just steps away in the same little shopping center, there is a free-standing Starbucks store. They both do well-go figure!
Shazam!
Great caption from a New Yorker cartoon: “Are we in this Starbucks or the one down the street?”
The options for coffee in my neck of the woods are a twee local bakery with overpriced coffee but good baked goods, a Dunkin’ Donuts whose interior is about as inviting as a Greyhound bus depot, and Starbucks with their harsh coffee but comfy leather chairs.
I think there’s an excellent niche in the market you could exploit if you create a coffee chain with a warm, inviting atmosphere; good Dunkin’ Donuts-level coffee; and decent baked goods.
Made from mostly over roasted beans.
can you provide a source for this quote?
nm..found it…
I enjoy Starbucks coffee…it’s usually the smaller stands that have the burnt coffee…