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134 Comments
- orientis, on 05/22/2008, -8/+80People hate Starbucks because of their destructive and anti-competitive business practices. They use a tactic known as 'clustering', which involves opening a bunch of shops in the same area. Though the shops are competing against each other as well as other coffee shops, and some shops may take a loss, overall the company profits. They buy property leased by popular local cafes and attempt to force them out of business.
Oh and also because they charge a stupid amount of money for their ***** coffee. - BXRWXR, on 05/22/2008, -5/+31It's just coffee.
- cricket01, on 05/22/2008, -6/+27Why is it that if a local store becomes successful, markets itself well, and expands to other locations in some crazy effort to turn a profit everyone thinks they're the devil? We live in a capitalist country, isn't the goal to succeed?
As far as corporations go Starbucks is pretty responsible. - granolajoe, on 05/22/2008, -2/+20Thanks for telling it like it is. Here in Denver, Peaberry coffee used to be a staple for local coffee addicts, until Starbucks began using the clustering tactics you described. Nowadays you're lucky to find one at all that hasn't been turned into a Starbucks.
I get the fact that for them it's easy money, but whoever thought to begin this type of anti-competitive behavior that has changed the landscape of American coffeehouses had a complete lack of conscience. So many great places have been lost and replaced with somewhere that you can't ask for a Small, Medium or Large coffee. No, instead you're looked at funny and asked if instead you want a ***** Tall, Grande or Venti. - inactive, on 05/22/2008, -1/+17At least Starbucks offers free medical insurance for their employees, even those who work there part-time.
If I were American, I'd check which company has good policies towards their employees and buy from them. - RudeTurnip, on 05/22/2008, -2/+18Why aren't you blaming your fellow citizens, as well? It takes two to tango.
- inactive, on 05/22/2008, -5/+21Dugg for nakid boob mermaid spreading her fins and showing her hooch.
- wingo123, on 05/22/2008, -1/+15I worked for a small, privately owned local coffee shop. They roasted their own coffee with this kickass vintage roaster and had excellent beans flown in from small farms all over the world. They paid very close attention to how the coffee was made, from start to finish. A cup of just the regular brewed coffee was VASTLY superior than anything from Starbucks, if you actually like coffee and not fruity sweet candy drinks - and cheaper as well.
They got forced out of business when a Starbucks opened RIGHT across the street, then half a block down on the same side of the street, then around the corner. People would stand in long lines like lemmings to get those crappy drinks, and the shop I worked for just couldn't compete. 'Oh, you guys don't have a 32 oz choco-mint-caramel-strawberry-cinnamon extreme 5000 drink with multi-colored whip cream? Forget it, I'm going across the street.'
It's pretty messed up, but people are stupid enough to buy their hype. It's like 'they must be good if they're all over - people seem to like it - look at how many people stand in line forever to get it. I must need some too.' Whatever. Kudos to them for being successful evil businessmen, but their coffee still sucks. - porkdanish, on 05/22/2008, -1/+13I roast my own coffee beans that I buy from Sweet Maria's. I use a burr grinder to get an even grind, brew with filtered water and a french press to get optimal extraction. It's tough to get fresher, better tasting coffee than at my house.
That said, Starbuck's coffee isn't bad. Yes, they tend to over roast but not beyond a reasonable point. I think it's done to suit american palates for what "strong coffee" is supposed to taste like. Even then, it's still a question of taste -- I prefer some of my African beans roasted just past Full City.
And I also notice that everyone overstates the price of Starbucks coffee. A tall coffee runs about $1.50. Not $3 and certainly not $6. That's reasonable for the quality that they're offering and just a little more than the swill you can buy at Circle K. - sobriquet, on 05/22/2008, -3/+14Local coffee shop here has free wifi, the coffee isn't burned, and it's cheaper. There's about 20 SB within a 5 miles of it but it manages.
- isaaccs, on 05/22/2008, -1/+11actually, a cup of coffee is less than $2.
and the reason they charge that is partly so they can afford to employee a massive work force decent wages and benefits. i worked at a small private coffee shop. got paid piss and no benefits.
and it's not bad coffee. any dunkin donuts, micky d's, or your average deli will sell you absolute sludge for $1.
starbucks is over-zealous in business practices and i'm not trying to defend them, but calling anyone who has ever purchased a cup of decent coffee at a convenient location for a little-bit more than a competitor might charge (for a lousy cup!) a "retard" is a little over-the-top. - metallic07039, on 05/22/2008, -1/+10How the heck are they doing so bad?! Every Starbucks I been to has a line so much so that they have two stores within a block (NYC) sometimes. How much better do they want to do?! And the people who hate Starbucks, they're are there more than the caffeine addicts. They are the people with the Apple laptops. There is always at least two of them in there, it never fails.
- prophet000, on 05/22/2008, -1/+9I don't hate Starbucks. I don't love Starbucks. I nothing Starbucks.
- vexingmodstwo, on 05/22/2008, -0/+8What the ***** are you talking about? Republicans? You're blaming the hatred of Starbucks on Republicans?
- vballplayer, on 05/22/2008, -0/+8This is what drives me crazy about people complaining about $6 coffee. What you are buying for $6 is not coffee, they are frothy mocha mint frappachinos that are as much like coffee as milkshakes are like milk. If you just want a cup of coffee, you can get one for under $2.
- Rufunki, on 05/22/2008, -0/+8You know what's better than paying 5 bucks for a gift card? -- free. Just like it should be for a 5 dollar coffee.
- xXMetalJesusXx, on 05/22/2008, -2/+9Here in Canada, we have Tim Hortons every 20 feet from each other...
So I'll take starbucks over Timmies coffee anyday, especially with the lack of respect they show their employees.
(http://digg.com/world_news/Tim_Horton_s_Donut_Chai ... - inactive, on 05/22/2008, -6/+13I hate starbucks for the simple fact they never fully offered free wifi and went with corporate $10/day, $30/month wifi ripoff companies. i would have loved to sit there and peruse the web but instead i had to go to local places. what a POS company, i hope it dies.
- orientis, on 05/22/2008, -3/+10Hah! It's a ***** CHAIN! Upscale?! You can't get any more low-brow than buying supposedly 'elitist' foods like a latte at a ***** chain! Real coffee is sold under the name of Cappuccino, Caffe Latte, Espresso etc, anything with a proprietary name you can safely consider to be ***** made by a faceless corporation - and remember kids! Buy local and avoid buying ***** from faceless corporations! If there are twenty thousand other versions of the same shop in your country, don't shop there!
- nafa228, on 05/22/2008, -4/+11I believe Starbucks should invest some money into coffee bean roasting department. They've been burning coffee beans for years now.
- JESUSREAM, on 05/22/2008, -3/+10Their easy to hate because their all over the place. Im not rich by any standards, but I do enjoy a mocha from there regularly.
- Jlaugh, on 05/22/2008, -0/+7All the local shops have free internet why would I go to a starbucks which makes me pay for wifi when I can support a small business which knows that wifi is cheap, and a good way to bring in customers.
- inactive, on 05/22/2008, -0/+7Wait, it's not something more than coffee? Let me write this down.
- isaaccs, on 05/22/2008, -0/+7Starbucks has a pretty solid track record of treating employees fairly. But the shear quantity of locations is staggering and disappointing for anyone who doesn't want a completely homogenous shopping or coffee experience.
- jd72277, on 05/22/2008, -0/+6Very true. They insure people that wouldn't be able to get it elsewhere.
- trebor, on 05/22/2008, -1/+7read as: "i'm old."
- leerayIG88, on 05/22/2008, -5/+11I take speed, 100 times more potent that coffee.
- rossiohead, on 05/22/2008, -1/+6Ditto maninalift, above.
It's fine to say that SB's coffee doesn't meet your Connoisseur Grade A standards because you've been drinking coffee for 20 years from a local merchant who hand-roasted each individual bean, etc. But for 98% of the public, SB's coffee is far superior to the diner and donut-shop competition.
Even by any absolute standard, SB coffee isn't "*****", not by a long-shot. And their regular coffee (not lattes or cappuccinos or what have you) are within a few dimes of the prices everywhere else, including the diners and donut-shops. Focus on what's actually bad about them instead of painting with such broad strokes, because right now it just looks like you're ranting against something you don't like. - StingingNettle, on 05/22/2008, -2/+7Closing stores would help reinvent itself. The u-village mall in Seattle has three different starbucks in it.
- kelty1980, on 05/22/2008, -0/+5Why don't they just stop serving SH!TTY coffee, and start selling better pastries, and stop having me talk to 3 different people to get a large black coffee, hell let me go out on a total left field and let some local person play guitar for free. If you could do everything the opposite way that they do buisness, they might get my money.
- maninalift, on 05/22/2008, -1/+6Starbucks unethical... probably.
Starbucks overpriced... probably.
Starbucks make all sorts of milky concoctions that don't deserve to be called coffee.... definitely.
Starbucks has a distasteful air of consumerist conceit... well yes.
Starbucks coffee is *****... NO! Unfortunate as it may be Starbucks coffee is really rather good. - wacomwacoff, on 05/22/2008, -0/+5A cup of coffee costs $1.65 at Starbucks -- the same price as Dunkin' Donuts or any of its indie-coffeeshop competitors.
If you don't know what it tastes like, don't comment on how it tastes, *****. - speel, on 05/22/2008, -0/+5I bet G Dub has a Starbucks in his ranch
- zaco, on 05/22/2008, -0/+5Seattle's Best is owned by Starbucks
- Senturion, on 05/22/2008, -1/+5Like any popular consumer brand there will be zealots and haters, the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
- mister23, on 05/22/2008, -0/+4I used to work for a place like that too... starbucks opened right across the street and then in a borders half a block away. we at least benefited from lots of loyal customers and a general anti-megachain sentiment amongst locals and survived. all the tourists go to starbucks though.
- counterpt, on 05/22/2008, -1/+5They grew so fast that it was unsustainable. It's like eating everything at a buffet and expecting it not to hurt later...
- inactive, on 05/22/2008, -0/+42 hours/day isnt close to free. maybe a one time fee of $5 then UNLIMITED or 6 hours a day would be acceptable, but who goes to a coffee shop to do work/internet for ONLY 2 hours? Its just another scam to get you to pony up for more hours.
i HATE starbucks, att, tmobile hotspots. F+ to this plan - lowspeedchase, on 05/22/2008, -0/+4Yah, ***** warmongering Republicans and thier ***** coffee fetishes.. I'm with you man, you're so spot on!
=| - manamizer, on 05/22/2008, -0/+4This actually isn't all true. I forget if it was fortune or forbes or something else, but there was an article not long ago interviewing small coffee shops about the impact of starbucks on their sales. Starbucks tried to pressure one guy into selling out his store and when he wouldn't they opened up next to him. His sales increased tremendously from the overflow and he now has a business strategy where he opens coffee shops next to starbucks. Point being, it's not all just some evil plan by starbucks, but more likely that people aren't looking for that local sit and chat type of a place. Might suck if you prefer the local shops (i do) but that's just how it is.
- trebor, on 05/22/2008, -0/+3fyi nothing on the menu is 6 bucks. in fact, nothing is even 5 bucks. unless you choose to add 3+ shots of espresso.
also, i'm glad you call the coffee burnt even though you admit to never having it.
very interesting.
old enough to exaggerate? i think so
not old enough to form own opinions? i think so.
sad. - Rapter09, on 05/22/2008, -3/+6Hey, i'd be trying to reinvent myself too if I came back from the dead to the chagrin and mistrust of my fellow shipmates.
- speel, on 05/22/2008, -6/+9I'm surprised no one has mentioned how "burnt" their coffee tastes.
- devaspark, on 05/22/2008, -2/+5As much as I feel bad for the mom and pop stores, a business is a business is a business. No competitive edge (in this case, your coffee shop was the only one in the area) stays there forever. It is the duty of the store owners to invent new ways to beat the competition. If you didn't make the cut, it's the store owner's fault for not adapting.
You said your coffee was superior in terms of the process of making coffee. Why not seize upon that idea and promote it locally? Pass out fliers, host taste tests between your coffee and starbucks.
While starbuck's process is anti competitive, it is because they have to report to investors.
Your duty as a person working at your coffee shop might have been to help promote your coffee shop of why it is superior to the one across the street.
Don't just blame starbucks for your own store's failings. - sgtpppr, on 05/22/2008, -0/+3That doesn't matter here. They are corporate...so are inherently evil...even if they do treat employees far better than local coffee shops.
- ColonelJessup, on 05/22/2008, -0/+3I ordered a red eye once. It was 2.50 for a shot of espresso and coffee over ice. It was like taking speed.
- Somnambulism, on 05/23/2008, -0/+3Most people who go to Starbucks pay the extra dollar for the ambience. Of course a lot of people need their coffee fix and go through the drive thru or run in during the early hours before work.It's the same drink whichever Starbucks you visit throughout the country. Customers enjoy that.
Why don't we protest 7-Eleven or Dunkin' Donuts for putting out mom and pop shops? There are plenty of caffeine addicts to go around as long as your running a proper business.
Should Starbucks be prosecuted for convenience of the customer? - dagamer34, on 05/22/2008, -0/+3Congratulations! I applaud your stupidity in proving that keeps Seattle's Best Coffee and Starbucks brands separate was a GOOD idea to keep lemmings like you around!
- logandurand, on 05/22/2008, -0/+3Their coffee is expensive, but it certainly isn't of poor quality. Why don't you try it before you insult it?
- Jlaugh, on 05/22/2008, -0/+3Sure they do... Even sharks have vaginas.
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