Starbucks Goes on Sabbatical, Dunkin' Steals the Slack
Starbucks is staging a sales sabbatical for several hours tomorrow. At Chairman Schultz' behest, all company-owned stores are shutting down so baristas can go back to basics.
"Starbucks partners will have an opportunity to connect and deepen their passion for coffee with the ultimate goal of transforming the customer experience," Schultz said in a staff memo.
Demonstrating the opportunism that America actually runs on, Dunkin' Donuts is slashing coffee to $0.99 tomorrow so "no coffee lover is denied a delicious espresso-based beverage." And LA's Coffee Klatch is literally giving coffee away during the 'bucks Blackout.
We're not worried about competitors getting all slash-happy while Starbucks regroups, but those baristas better be able to change lives when those three hours are up.
And make little leaf-shaped swirls out of cream. For 7100 stores gone mum nationwide, time is money.
Comments
This is laughable. As a Starbucks Certified Barrista from back in the day (when we actually had to run an espresso machine and not just push buttons on it) I can't imagine what exactly this will accomplish.
Sounds like they just want their employees to be able to feign intelligence when talking about the coffee they serve. I was trained and certified in a Barnes & Noble cafe, and we used to have to take quizzes on which beans were in which blends.
Honestly, most of the coffee I had at an actual Starbucks was the worst of any specialty coffee shop I went to. Caribou is better in terms of national chains and your local shop is probably the best you'll find.
South Florida had massive power outages today. I'm thinking some technicians didn't get their afternoon latte.