Starbucks has made the news in many interesting ways in the past few days!
PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE IS COMING SOON:
If you want early access to the Pumpkin Spice Latte, you should follow the Twitter profile @therealPSL. There will be a scavenger hunt to earn early access. The Pumpkin Spice Latte will be available nationally on September 2, 2014. Early tasters will get their fix starting August 26th. (CNBC News article here.)
STARBUCKS TO IMPROVE BARISTA SCHEDULES:
Starbucks promises to improve baristas hectic schedules: the “Clopen” soon to become a thing of the past. A “clopen” is when a barista closes a store and then returns back to the same store early morning hours to open it up. In other words, this wrecks havoc on one’s sleep. It’s possible a person might leave the store at 10:00 PM and then have to return to that Starbucks at 4:00 AM for an opening shift. Starbucks also promises that baristas with more than a one hour commute may transfer to a closer store. This New York Times article sites an internal email from Cliff Burrows – I’d love to read it. Forward it to Melody@StarbucksMelody.com pretty please. đ (New York Times article here.)
THE STARBUCKS TRUCK IS A REAL THING AT THREE COLLEGES:
The Starbucks truck will now be a real thing. Three Starbucks trucks will be on site at three different colleges, one of them being ASU. You might recall, Starbucks recently partnered with ASU for an education benefit for their employees. I notice the news article says that the three Starbucks trucks will be operated by Aramark, meaning that they will be licensed store operations. (Bloomberg – Businessweek article here.) I noticed that the Businessweek.com article didn’t mention about whether customers will be able to pay with a Starbucks card and earn stars. I myself contacted Starbucks, and heard from an official Starbucks spokesperson (Maggie Jantzen) already early this morning: “Customers can pay with Starbucks Cards and earn Stars at the Starbucks mobile trucks. You are correct that customers will not be able to redeem Rewards at these locations.”
ANNIVERSARY BLEND IS NOW AVAILABLE AT STARBUCKSSTORE.COM:
Last but not least, Starbucks Anniversary Blend will be officially available in Starbucks stores on September 2, 2014. However, you can get it early by ordering it from StarbucksStore.com. The famous annual blend returns each September with its complex, dark, spicy flavor profile. StarbucksStore.com shows that you can now buy both the whole bean form as well as the Verismo pod format. I suspect, based upon what’s been offered in the past, that the K-Cup format will be available in Starbucks stores.
Anniversary Blend was first introduced in 1996 to celebrate Starbucks’ 25th anniversary. Special colorful banners and t-shirts were desgined for the stores. And this blend has remained an annual favorite ever since! (Starbucks Anniversary Blend on StarbucksStore.com)
In my Starbucks collectibles collection, I have an original 1996 Anniversary Blend banner and t-shirt. You can see what they look like here:
This is an open thread. Feel free to talk about anything Starbucks related. As always, do not use or reproduce photos without my permission. Thank you.
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I remember my very first experience with Starbucks. I was walking in downtown Chicago with a friend on a very, very hot day when a Starbucks truck (this one was more like a moving truck) pulled over in front of us. Some guys hopped out and we’re running all over, handing out ice-cold bottled Frappuccinos to anyone that would take one. It was pretty awesome.
What happened to those kinds of promotions?
@Kristen – I think a lot of those trucks for a specific CPG product are outsourced projects. When canned Refreshers were new, I remember having a similar experience downtown with a guy shoving canned Refreshers at me.
There used to be real company-operated Starbucks trucks at local events: The Ballard Seafood Fest the Greenlake Milk Derby. Starbucks has nearly stopped doing those really fun event trucks. That’s kind of sad. Right now, the most common use of a Starbucks truck (as far as I can see) is to set up temporary store operations when a store is closed for a major remodel.
I didn’t realize the clopen issue was so huge. Back in the day when I’d make schedules, a red dot would appear beside anyone who had been scheduled with less than 8 hours between shifts. Since I stepped down prior to Kronos, I’m guessing that doesn’t happen.
I would like to see the trucks at more locations than just college campuses or at special events. I also hope the new scheduling they implement works!
As a store manager, I went through the change from ALS to GLS (different scheduling software). Neither program would automatically schedule a partner to ‘clopen,’ the store manager would have to manually change the schedule to allow that to happen. With GLS, any schedule rule violations would also appear on the district manager’s laptop, so anyone still doing this should be held accountable. GLS was a hassle, because we were told that we couldn’t post the next week’s schedule until Tuesday of the current week, because the system was so overwhelmed with data calls that it couldn’t handle it on Mondays. Glad to hear they are going to finally allow something we could do with the old system all along – schedule multiple weeks in advance.
The biggest thing to remember here is that scheduling is a balancing act. The more you make partners’ schedules fixed and guaranteed, the worse customer service will become during irregular peaks. I have a feeling that the pendulum will end up swinging back if there is a noticeable negative effect on the customer.
Interesting news about the coffee trucks. Time will tell whether this is a good idea to license the trucks out to a company like Aramark. Another big player in food services to colleges is Sodexo USA (Sodexo is a French company), plus Sudexo provides services to many military bases.
A ghost from the past. Kraft is going to be nationally marketing McDonald’s McCaffe bagged coffee in grocery stores. Bagged coffee shelf space is very limited and I am sure that this will cause a slotting fee bidding war. Who will survive?
http://adage.com/article/news/kraft-mcdonald-s-roll-bagged-coffee-nationally/294627/
I am so thrilled PSL is going to be back. It’s the only hot espresso beverage I like and I am so excited to be able to enjoy it again. Too bad I have to enjoy it in the 100+ degree heat in Texas…
In my area, I’m not aware that many “clopens” happen on purpose. I do know of several partners who have picked up extra shifts when other people call out and those extra shifts end of turning into clopens. Crazy, crazy people. I’ve gotten on such a weird schedule with my opens, I know I couldn’t even manage. I get up at 3am and am fighting sleep at 2p. Can’t even remember the last time I was up (much less out and about) after 8pm. I would prefer to see some adjustments made to the sick leave/vacation policies instead. When I had to miss almost a week’s worth of work because my husband ended up in the hospital, I wanted to use some of my vacation hours to cover that time. But when I got back to work, I found out that even though I’ve worked at SBUX for over a year, I won’t accrue a week’s worth of vacation until my second anniversary. đ I hate that I don’t have the hours to make up for those days missed.
About three weeks ago I went out to a local DFW mall where Starbucks had a mobile truck set up to help promote the new Fizzio drinks. I was so happy to (FINALLY) see something cool happen in Texas but was disappointed at the service of the partners at the event. Dress code: not followed. Friendly service: not at all. Partners on their cell phones: everywhere. If I had known before hand that we could sign up for this event, I would have TOTALLY done it. Melody, I have some pictures from it if you’re interested. They are great, but those pictures are pretty cool.
Because of my experience with Aramark, I would be wary that these mobile trucks might not be the best representation of true Starbucks quality. I lived for 4 years on a campus with Aramark dining and worked for two years in two different states for Aramark, one of which was in a licensed Starbucks. Just a word of caution: don’t expect the same level of service or care that you’d get at your favorite Starbucks. Hopefully, these 3 campuses will be able to pull off this amazing opportunity!
Given I haven’t tried a pumpkin spice latte in years, I’m rather looking forward to it this year and hope that it is as tasty as it was when I first (and only) ever tried it.
As for the trucks, my experiences with Aramark food found it varied rather often when in a kitchen and so unless they really work on this I imagine it will be a short lived project and in those areas leave a small mark on Starbuck’s reputation.
As a customer, I am glad they are addressing Clopen. I’m sure that it is a good option for some Partners on limited bases, especially those balancing hectic college schedules which differ everyday. However…. I just don’t see that it is a smart thing for any business to do. Starbucks isn’t the only business that uses such practices in scheduling. I’m sure we are all aware of that. I think it’s just smart to have a minimum of 8hrs between shifts. I want a Partner that is well rested. A well rested Partner should make for a happy Partner. I believe that is a win/win for both Partner and their customers IMHO!
Starbucks Licensed Trucks….. I hate the idea. The thought of them just cheapens my opinion of Starbucks. For me, that opinion isn’t open for debate. If college campuses want them, let Aramark create kiosks within their cafeterias and or at their sporting venues. I’m sure that Aramark is already running those services at the Universities anyway. Since I’m not in college, I guess my opinion doesn’t matter to those which whom it may benefit. I’m fine with that! To each his own I guess.
Since this is an open thread, has anybody tried the Kau since it returned this week? I was never a big fan of it, but I like it better this time around. @Melody – Just a follow up. Remember the info I gave you recently about the missing Clover setting for the Yirgacheffe? That information was wrong. The setting was reprogrammed. The newer inexperienced Partners were looking for Yirgacheffe as the keyword. These Partners saw the core Ethiopian coffee setting only, and assumed there was no setting for the Yirgacheffe. So the Partners were brewing it at a standard core setting on the Clover. I think I got that right – LOL! So it’s no wonder the end results were horrible.
I noticed they have the Pumpkin Spice Latte VIA on the Starbucks store website already, is that new? I just began drinking Starbucks VIA late last year around October and I remember getting some type of Pumpkin Spice something VIA and I really liked it. But I don’t remember if it was latte or just coffee. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the other latte VIA flavors they introduced earlier this year, so I’m not sure I want to buy this stuff unless it’s the same as what I had last year. I’m also looking forward to trying the Anniversary Blend this year, since last year I wasn’t doing coffee yet before it was sold out.
Also, I just want to say I’m excited there’s a stand-alone Starbucks opening within walking distance of my house tomorrow. ::squee:: No more slogging miles away to the over-crowded and ugly drive through one, or stopping in the kiosk ones in grocery stores or the mall. I hope it’s a nice one. I fear I may need a second job soon though. đ
@Alexa – That reminds me – I knew the Pumpkin Spice Via Latte was coming and was going to mention it here. Thank you for the heads up that it’s already at Starbucksstore.com!
i don’t mind clopens. i wouldn’t want them all the time, but it’s kind of nice to know exactly what the store will look like when you walk in. side note, i have never had a store manager schedule a clopen without asking if it was ok with me first. it’s usually an emergency situation, and i am happy to help out.
what i would like to see addressed, or changed, is going back to optimal scheduling. i have a very hard time sleeping, and adjusting to days and nights. i used to have a consistent schedule, and it was monday-friday, and i either opened, or worked an early mid. never past 4pm.
now i work many closes and opens in a week, for example, open, close day off, open, close, day off, close. this means i can only get about 3-4 hours of sleep a day, because i just can’t keep readjusting. if i limit my availability, i get less hours.
i love the idea of starbucks trucks and i would like to work in one (but not drive it!) i think it would be so much fun to travel the country and slinging drinks!!!!
Funny, I already thought clopens (at least those of <8 hours) werenât allowed and that Starbucks already required the schedule to be up at least one week in advance. Those were the policies mentioned when I worked at SBux 5-8 years ago, although they werenât followed 100% of the time.
One thing that was mentioned in the article that Starbucks didnât address in this round is the phenomena of managers sending people home early when business is slow. This really bothered me as there were weeks when I would lose 4+ hours…I remember one morning I was scheduled from 7-11 and since we were slow the manager sent me home at 9:15. :-/ Thereâs enough uncertainty working in retail…not knowing what your hours will be week to week is bad enough, but not knowing whether youâll actually get your posted hours is even worse.
@David – Good comment.
IIRC a store’s coverage hours are based on the past weeks business levels so sending people home is actually counterproductive. There is always a lot of cleaning and stocking that always needs to be done, not to mention some refresher training. I consider it a management failure to send people home early, there is plenty that needs to be done now. Those few “saved” hours are going to come back and bite you the next time you get your reduced coverage hours. So “manager” it is lose lose, you lose productive time that you will never get back and you show no concern for your employees so you lose employee loyalty.
When I was managing our DM and Regional Manager were so uptight about going over labor our labor variance could only be a max of 2 hours over per week. What really didn’t help is that about 7 years ago during the slashing days we went from 24 hours of non-coverage time to 8. I would schedule a person each week for 6 hours of deep cleaning. The rest of that time was administrative use; scheduling, reviews, shift meetings, help with training. Our current DM carries on the tradition of tight scheduling so we are really under the gun on each side-no unnecessary overage from those above us and realizing the our hard working baristas need those hours to meet bills.
@DadCooks – As I understand it, this week’s labor is based both on last week’s sales and the sales of this week last year.
And I don’t consider it a management failure to cut labor, I consider it a corporate failure that SMs are held to such tight labor variables that they don’t have a choice.
@SnowWhite – that sounds about right, how labor is determined.
I understand your point about not being a management failure when labor is cut. I was being too general when referring to management. The poor Store Manager is the person at the bottom of the hill (we all know what is running down it) that is not really given the power that they need to manage properly. I was so lucky in the real management jobs I had that I did not have 37 suits above me telling me that they knew better. The only “management above me was the store owner in most cases and in a couple of cases a regional executive. They all knew how to manage and mentor.