How do you compete with saturation? Change your name. Will be interesting to see how this works. Anyone remember all the “Seattle’s Best” stores that were shut down after the Starbucks buyout?
Friends ask me all the time if I live in Starbucks. I am pretty equal opportunity with my coffee shops. Some Starbucks stores are great while others are blah. I do frequent the local stores for unique product, atmosphere and free wifi.
Have a great weekend!
UPDATE (7/24): 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, the “not-a-Starbucks” Starbucks, opens this morning in Seattle’s Capitol Hill. The new pilot store will offer traditional coffee and tea beverages, and will also feature bottled beer and wine, with no official Starbucks branding. Here is Jason Brooks interviewing Major Cohen of Starbucks at the new store.
I caught wind of this story last night: Starbucks recalling 530,000 coffee grinders. I cannot imagine cleaning a device with spinning metal blades without unplugging it. There seems to be more to this story on the grinder recall.
I do strongly recommend grinding coffee at home. Freshly ground beans just make better coffee. I did use a blade grinder for years, but I was neophyte and foolish. Burr-grinding is the best and only way to go. The grind is more consistent. The use is simple. The mess is less. I have been using the KitchenAid Pro Line Burr Grinder for about 3 years. It is an excellent device. It requires minimal cleaning and does not make the mess that my old blade grinder did. It is expensive for a single use device; however, I would temper the price with the coffee spend each year. Your coffee spend is likely way more than the $160 price tag of the burr grinder. My spend for coffee at home per year is in the $500 range — easy. If you are effected by this recall, go get a real burr grinder. The replacement may make a nice gift.
Check out this good read by Starbucks co-founder Jerry Baldwin, Press Pots: Coffee Worth the Effort on Press Pots (a.k.a. French Press or “Freedom” Press). My coffee habits are similar — only espresso or press will do. A few years ago, I received a KitchenAid Pro Line Burr Grinder KPCG100 as a gift. I would highly recommend it, especially if your habit is 3 or more cups per day at home.
Time after time in discussing potential CRM technologies with clients, the issue of customer loyalty is brought forth. Clients want to make sure that their customers keep coming back. Depending on the type of relationship, one bad transaction can lose a customer. When the process of sales and service is discussed, ask how many layers of onion are between you and your customer. How does it taste?
The good news is that today there are more technologies than ever to get closer to the customer. These range from traditional customer care to social media. Depending on the product or service you could easily and cheaply implement: Video, Twitter, User Comments, Photos, Slideshare Presentations, Facebook/LinkedIn, etc. Check out My Starbucks Idea built on the Salesforce.com Force Platform. They have received more than 60,000 unsolicited customer posts! Some great ideas have come from their own customers like the “Splash Stick”. They encourage ideas, feedback and even criticism! Plus, it has generated outside press and awesome word of mouth. You cannot ask for better customer loyalty.
Now maybe your business is not on every corner and might not be all that “sexy”. You still have customers, you still have relationships, they still have ideas, they still provide feedback, and they still provide criticism. The trick is to find the right medium to get you close to the customer. Then loyalty will grow.
When I first moved to Seattle, I could not tell the difference between an espresso and freeze dried Taster’s Choice. That changed in a hurry. I now have a strong regular habit. I even brought a Starbucks Barista® Espresso Machine into the office of a former employer to slow my espresso burn rate. The Barista® is a great machine and would recommend it. Note: the new version is called Saeco® Via Venezia Espresso Machine.
From time to time, people ask for recommendations on coffee. Here are some of my favorites.
Tully’s Italian Roast
Tully’s uses Starbucks old facility and produces a more mild coffee. Preferred by some. This is a great option.
Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii Kona Peaberry
If you are going to spend on Kona might as well make it Peaberry. Buy 6 and get a free pound. Expensive and excellent.
for about 3 years. It is an excellent device. It requires minimal cleaning and does not make the mess that my old blade grinder did. It is expensive for a single use device; however, I would temper the price with the coffee spend each year. Your coffee spend is likely way more than the $160 price tag of the burr grinder. My spend for coffee at home per year is in the $500 range — easy. If you are effected by this recall, go get a real burr grinder. The replacement may make a nice gift.