Starbucks: From 'Destination Stop' to 'Default Option'
Tom Mullaney of the Chicago Tribune waxes nostalgic over the old days of Starbucks—you know, before they started hawking CDs, breakfast sandwiches, and weren't everywhere—and laments their evolution from corner coffee shop to caffeine empire:
For the first dozen years, Starbucks was a destination stop. It had enormous cachet and street cred. . . . Starbucks is now my default option. . . . [It] once defined the coffee market but has lost control of its brand. Its ubiquity has killed the joy of discovering a new hangout.
[via Gapers Block]
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6 Comments:
No grief on my part. For those of us who like good coffee straight and black Starbucks was always to strong and too bitter.
They invented a brand and a great business, but what they sold wasn't coffee.
Auspicious at 6:06PM on 07/07/08
They do still exist as a company and are still selling beverages.
ccbweb at 6:53PM on 07/07/08
Starbucks has become a caricature of itself, or worse, a slicker looking version of McDonalds.
Carosone at 7:03PM on 07/07/08
Do you think people sit together and drink coffee less often than we did 10 years ago?
pookywookyster at 9:33PM on 07/07/08
I'm not a starbucks fan...and I agree that it is a "default" due to locations everywhere.
I much prefer small independents, and for a destination it is Caribou - YUMMY! But...with a 'bucks in practically every Kroger and Meijer in Central Ohio (even the Kroger in Mount Vernon, for pete's sake!), plus on nearly every street corner, it has a become an impulse purchase. "Ooohhh...yeah, a fru-fru coffee while buying groceries wouldn't be bad!"
I originally experienced total aggravation when traveling to Belterra Casino and Resort in Southern Indiana. For the morning coffee BEFORE hitting the boat, you have the tiny package in the room...and the Starbucks in the lobby. The only restaurant open before 11:00 am is the buffet, and you cannot just walk up to the counter and buy a coffee to go. Now, I just accept it when my man take his morning stroll to the lobby and awakens me with 2 large coffees to get me on with my day.
thewrighttaste at 12:15AM on 07/08/08
I enjoy starbucks for the environment, honestly.
I really like their tea varieties;
but I agree that the coffee us just WAY too strong.
The location I visit regularly smells wonderful every morning,
and they're the only location near by that sells bottled sparkling water--
If possible though, I DO try to support the underdogs :)
Starbucks makes enough.
hungrychristel at 1:33PM on 07/08/08