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A Starbucks by Any Other Name
| Fri Jul. 17, 2009 11:02 AM PDT
Three Seattle Starbucks locations are getting a homey makeover, the Seattle Times reports:
The ubiquitous coffee-shop giant is dropping the household name from its 15th Avenue East store on Capitol Hill, a shop that was slated to close at one point last year but is being remodeled in Starbucks' new rustic, eco-friendly style.
It will open next week, the first of at least three remodeled Seattle-area stores that will bear the names of their neighborhoods rather than the 16,000-store chain to which they belong.
The new stores will eschew anything that smacks of corporate branding—even their coffee bags will bear the name of the shop instead of the Starbucks logo. And the folksiness doesn't stop there, folks: Amenities will include beer and wine, hand-pulled espresso shots, live music, and poetry readings.
In order to figure out what makes neighborhood cafés tick, Starbucks HQ sent observation teams out to do some authenticity recon. Stealth missions these were not: One local coffeehouse owner told the Seattle Times, "They spent the last 12 months in our store up on 15th [Avenue] with these obnoxious folders that said, 'Observation.'"
Creepiness of rebranded coffee bags and synthetic hominess aside, there's actually something encouraging about this: Starbucks' attempt to emulate the little guys suggests local coffee joints are weathering the recession better than I thought. I had assumed mom-and-pop cafés woudn't be able to compete with the chains. Maybe I was wrong. Cool. But can the real little guys compete with the fake little guys? Man, oh man. Would that DFW were around to tackle that one.
HT J-Walk Blog.
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Comments
Don't forget Circadia
Submitted by Elizabeth Gettelman on Fri Jul. 17, 2009 3:51 PM PDT.
Starbucks tried this back in 1998 in San Fran.
I hope they are successful.
Submitted by HarryG (not verified) on Sun Jul. 19, 2009 5:31 AM PDT.
I hope they are successful. I travel a lot and often seek local coffee houses first. These choices haven't always been what I would call acceptable. Often I have been disappointed by local coffee house standards and quality. Starbucks, for me, has always been consistently good. The staff are almost always upbeat and friendly, or at least courteous. The lattes and baked goods are good and the environment is clean and, although wrapped in a plain vanilla wrapper, comfortable. I hope this new experiment is a success. It will be great to know that I can always find a comfortable and enjoyable environment to relax with a good craft beer or glass of wine while I listen to a local musician or artist.
I will remain loyal to my local coffee house and support local coffee houses when traveling when I can get a good recommendation before hand. I'm a little burned out on experimenting with my choice of coffee houses in the morning when I'm traveling and I can always count on Starbucks. The search for a good pub in an unfamiliar city may soon be over as well.
Re: Harry G
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon Jul. 20, 2009 2:28 PM PDT.
Hey Harry G, while you're at it, don't forget to never experiment again! Those surly gothic teenagers serving coffee better change their attitudes and fast! Ah, Homogeny. It's a great thing ain't it? :P
Personally, I hate this- corporate america can't leave anything alone! The Westside USED to be a great place to live; lots of galleries, low-slung arts, hippies, beach bums, thrift shops, head shops, FANTASTIC book shops- and then... American Eagle, GAP, Borders and oh yes- Starbucks on every f$%^&*n corner moved in, along with sky high rents and all the flavor is draining down the drain. I hope Starbucks falls flat on their faces!!!
You can try to take away the
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu Sep. 10, 2009 1:40 PM PDT.
You can try to take away the corporate branding all you want, but it is still a corporation.
