Starbucks must find lost "soul," Schultz says: Business & Technology: The Seattle Times
This is a little old now but I've been focused on more tangible (i.e. offline) activities the last couple weeks.
I'm glad to see that someone at Starbucks is aware that something's not right.
It's easy and almost trendy now in some circles to bash Starbucks these days. They're literally everywhere (there are 28 within 10 miles of here) and it's hard not to get overloaded by that.
I got my start in good coffee at Starbucks so I'll always have a soft spot for them. I eventually graduated to better coffee that's better roasted and more skillfully prepared in locally owned shops (Jamie's General Bean is a favorite). In the last couple years I have been roasting my own coffee as well.
The more I learned about what makes good coffee, the less satisfied I was with what the local Starbucks' were putting out. It didn't help that they were getting rid of the La Marzocco machines and replacing them with those automatic machines. When it takes skill to pull an espresso shot, sometimes you get crap, but sometimes you get gold.
Anyway, I'm rambling. I hope this means that Starbucks is going to start focusing on making and serving great coffee and less on making an "experience" for people who don't like coffee. I think easily available, well-roasted, skillfully prepared coffee would be a wonderful thing regardless of what name's on the door.
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