The news recently reported Starbucks has been experiencing stagnant sales and that there would be corporate layoffs. Why is that? Is the brand too ubiquitous? Are people just bored with the drink menu? What is happening?
In a closed Facebook group about Starbucks, a member posted the above link. There were tons of responses, so many of which talked about the price point of beverages and the inconsistency in the drink and experience.
These were the kinds of comments I saw:
“I think sales are lagging because of quality & consistency problems. 1 out of 4 handcrafted espresso drinks I buy are made wrong. I used to spend $500-800/mo as a daily drinker. Now I find I only go 1-2 times per week. I’m getting my coffee fix in different ways now (home, micro-roasters, other coffee shops, etc). I’m no longer brand loyal to Sbx.” – CoreyAnn
“They eliminated good drinks and their prices are pretty steep” – Michelle
“A lot of the new products lately seem kind of haphazard…like that cold brew almond protein shake drink thing, (insert drink here) with whipped foam on top, etc. Prices have crept way up too, a featured venti drink with almond or soy milk is over $6 now.” – David
“I commented many moons ago that the introduction of the Roastery was going to irreparably damage the Starbucks brand. The bifurcation of attention on two entirely different concepts has taken focus off of the regular stores that earn all the money to pay for new multi million dollar shrines to the origin of the company in Italy.” – Christian
I too don’t go to Starbucks nearly as often as I once did. I know my thinking about my diet started to drastically change after reading the book, “The Dorito Effect.” I started to ask myself, “Am I just consuming empty calories?” The more I asked myself that question, the less I wanted to order anything from the Starbucks menu. Even with the syrup extract revamp of beverages (this is still in the testing phase in limited locations), I don’t see myself ever becoming a daily Starbucks customer again. Most of the offerings are empty calories. And as to just black coffee, I can buy whole beans and make an excellent cup of coffee in my own kitchen to take with me on my way to work in the morning.
By the way, the book The Dorito Effect doesn’t advocate one particular diet. Personally, I now think a vegan diet focused on whole foods is the healthiest option, but I fully recognize lots of people will disagree with me on that idea.
I still get very excited to see some of the coffee innovation happening at Starbucks. The Whiskey Barrel Aged Guatemala is a good example of that. The consistency of beverages and experience is still really pretty good at the stores I visit, though I don’t know if that is because all my regular stores are within a stone’s throw of the Starbucks headquarters (not literally speaking, but very close by.)
Starbucks once said that the Starbucks Experience was the “secret sauce” of the brand. I think the Starbucks Experience has gotten weaker over the years I’ve been writing this blog. Even my own experience with the headquarters has drastically changed, I’ve stopped asking them for much of anything because it seems like nobody has any time for coffee connections, questions, and experiences. Just as the store level partners don’t have time to connect with customers, it’s my impression that neither do the partners in the Starbucks Support Center. In 2014, I had the privilege of seeing the “pilot plant” at the corporate headquarters. That kind of experience – let’s pull back the curtain and have some fun – seems to be gone. It doesn’t seem to be personal: Starbucks employees are time crunched at every single level of the business.
I’ve used a lot of words to say that for the overwhelming majority of Americans, the prices are high at Starbucks, the drinks aren’t healthy, and it might be that the experience isn’t what it once was.
Am I off the mark? What do you think? Starbucks, please prove me wrong.
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Being a once partner of 12 years, I do miss having it every few days but the price point deters me. There isn’t really any enticing beverage or even food items to draw me in – dreaming of a pumpkin muffin I know get elsewhere. I find a better quality mocha cheaper at another coffee shop who doesn’t cross contaminate with almond milk(the move to steam in any pitcher means I can not consume any hot drink). Honestly there is so much cross contamination that I can’t have practically 90% of the menu without risk(almond butter blended in blenders), which is sad for food allergy suffers. We have taken our business elsewhere.
I honestly make better espresso drinks at home so it just is not worth the expense and hassle of Sbux. I don’t drink flavored drinks and their food offerings have never been comparable to what you can get elsewhere.
I now view Starbucks like I do McDonald’s: ubiquitous and therefore only an option when traveling remotely when nothing else is available.
Which is kinda sad. I believe in the Starbucks Experience. I have made friends (like you, Melody) over a cup of Starbucks, and the product helped get me through law school and the bar exam. But sadly, the Starbucks of today is not the Starbucks of my past.
I was a Shift for 3 years. I dont know about other districts, but ours hired a new DM who came from a licensed store who doesnt care nearly as much about customer connections as he does about drive times and raw numbers. Food sales have been a MAJOR focus, and the new play book bears witness to the fact; drinks are sub-par because now we have to have someone on warming oven who could be on bar, or our drive times will falter. The last store I was at was falling apart: the one sticker printer we had would quit working intermittantly and he wouldn’t order us a new one when we desperately needed 2 in the first place. He promoted store managers based less upon their character and more upon how subserviant he thought they would be to him, and created a very toxic and bureaucratic environment, effectively ending Starbucks culture in our district. They were also all very young and going through a lot of turmoil and life changes, and acted less like managers and more like college students trying to make deadlines rather than caring for their fellow partners. The racial training was less about actually rectifying any underlying issues, it was definitely virtue signaling on a corporate scale. Our managers didnt used to care if we gave a customer a free drink if their first one wasnt made to expectations, or if they were mistaken about how much they had in their bank account and their card was declined, now theres a whole process in order to nickle and dime waste. Everything seemed to go downhill after Howard left. There was a time when the Siren shone like a beacon among waves of fast food franchises, but now it feels no different from the Micky D’s on the other corner.
Melody thank you for your candor, and quite frankly I really hope Starbucks takes notice. I left after eight years, theee as an SM, because delivering the Starbucks Experience became nearly impossible with the time crunches you alluded to. (I could write a LOT about that.) I live 45 minutes from the nearest Bux and will go in when I’m near there, but even in the short 4 months I have been gone, I feel like a stranger in the stores.
I was a daily starbucks consumer for 7 years up until the region i’m in decided to pilot the new syrups earlier this year. The new syrups did not taste good to me and affected my stomach in a bad way. I have no idea why that happened, but I tried to find a substitute drink for almost two months. I finally decided to try some local coffee shops and competitors and starbucks has lost me as a customer. My drink was always the same for all those years while I just laughed at all the new shiny drinks they kept promoting. I guess I never thought a simple iced coffee with milk and vanilla would change, but sadly it did in a bad way for me. Honestly, I don’t miss starbucks at all. I do miss the baristas and store managers I became friends with, but thats it.
My experience is similar to Shawnee’s. I was an SM for 5 years and with the company for 9. Every year, the labor given to stores was slightly decreased while products and processes were increased in complexity. That left exhausted baristas who had reduced capacity for connections.
Thank you for this, Melody. I’m a ten year partner, six of those as an SM. I always considered Starbucks to be my career, and was heartbroken when I finally took my coffee break earlier this year, knowing that I would likely not return. It’s just not the same company any more – and I think more and more people (partners and loyal customers alike) are finally admitting it.
I went from daily to occasionally. It always was the experience that drew me in. Now, it’s expensive, inconsistent, and less pleasant ♀️
I am sad to say that I agree, but i do. I don’t get nearly as much anymore. What you mentioned in the post is exactly right… quality & consistency problems. 1 out of 3 handcrafted espresso drinks I buy are made wrong or are just simply mediocre tasting compared to others. I know the labor is somewhat contributing to the issue, the baristas have to work too quickly to get so many orders out and mobile orders too. On the other side of the issue for me is I feel embarrassed bring it to the barista or shift’s attention anymore – they still know me at the store and I feel like I’m labeled as “that kind of customer” so it’s gotten to the point where I no longer say anything about it. However, that has definitely impacted my frequency in going because spending over $6 for my espresso beverage is way too much money for it to be wrong or disappointing that often. I hope that Starbucks is listening because it is not the Starbucks experience I was in love with 5-10 years ago.
Your post echoes my experience perfectly. I used to go daily, but the drinks are often made wrong and I have a very good sense of taste so I notice (examples are iced venti mochas either receiving 5 instead of 6 pumps mocha even when explicitly asking for 6 or getting only 2 instead of 3 shots of espresso in iced venti drinks, or having ice put in the cup before milk and sometimes even before espresso which doesn’t allow the ingredients to mix properly, or putting so little ice in drinks taste horribly milky and diluted even after asking for extra ice… I could go on and on).
I often ask for it to be remade and some stores are great about it but in others, I really do feel like I’ve been labeled even though I’m very polite about it and always leave $1 tip. Because of all of this, I’ve started making my drinks at home and going to Starbucks much, MUCH less. I can tell the time crunch between the drive thru, mobile and walk-in is hurting the entire experience. I almost always walk in and have to wait for many drinks to be made before mine, even when I’m first in line at the counter and nobody’s waiting at the bar). Baristas don’t seem to have time to think or make the drink right.
You nailed it! All those reasons, plus my love for artisan coffee, have left me with no taste for Starbucks. I watched a movie last night from the 90s when Starbucks was in its heyday — a real leader of the industry. Starbucks experiences as a customer, then later as a partner, have been in decline for a long time. It’s unfortunate.
I’m so glad you posted this Melody .I’m not sure if I go less frequently; I still go often but the ‘Starbucks experience’, especially, to me is nearly gone. I , like you and Cd( hi Cd!) have made several friends thru Sbux . A few of those are likely long lasting. But the overall lack of labor, the drive-thrus whenever Corp can put them, have changed the customer/partner experience entirely for me. I only see that going downhill everyday . It takes a really exceptional barista to connect with a customer with those headsets on and all those voices they’re hearing. (I’m in the cafe and other than at the POS, we’re not the ones generally being heard.) The quality of what’s in the cafes seems not as good. The design teams make some really obvious bad decisions, easy things like nowhere for a community board, where a community/ computer table could easily have been placed and made much better use of space. I don’t know who they’re thinking of or talking to with some of these plans, which are now not working well. I actually was present when the team came into one of my local Sbux. They’re trying to do something NOW with a whole area of wasted space in this new ( one yr) building. Without a lot of re-construction, they don’t have many choices.
My wish is that they’d stuck to the original plan; at least a couple ‘big comfy’ chairs, a few good pastries ( lemon knots, Carmelitas) and focus on the coffee. And the ‘coffee shop’ idea. As Cd said, in so many ways it’s not so different from McDonalds now. ( the drive thrus, around me at least, are ruining what was already declining). I have to go to the Reserve Bar for a nice experience, mostly. This is not to say I don’t still see my long time friend baristas but there’s minimal communication. They’re often swamped just from the drive thru
There’s so much more than I’ve written here but it’d be so long. (!they keep raising the prices and no one hardly notices anymore, it’s so frequent)
Ughh. Bla bla bla.
Thanx for everyone’s comments. I haven’t read any I disagree with.
Hi Denise! Kinda sad. There was once a time when employees and customers were both so passionate about SBUX. I suppose it was great while it lasted.
After being a barista for several years, I go less because I personally cannot stand behind a company that treats their store level employees they way Starbucks does. Same reason I dont shop at Wal-Mart. They got too big for their britches and aren’t the type of company I want to support. I write this as I am sitting in the drive thru at Dutch Bros….
I thoroughly agree re: store employees treatment. The drive thru demand and app order at speed of light is above and beyond greed. The customer types at drive thru and app order are horrible ipeople…not much else…seen fights at drive thru…very low end society customer…customers in store whom are very loud and nearly yelling, too cheap to order…that is not the recent headline either, customers during heat wave whom sit alone and will not share the table. Most of the baristas are working long hours, cleaning late at night and also going to college, probably college is the more welcome experience in their lives. Minimum wage and extremely demanding work load. People still need a stopover place, commuters…etc. and Starbucks does fill that need. Starbucks is more pleasant than most any other place though, 53 drinks on the menu, still love their coffee, iced, espressoed or hot, iced tea is great, extra ice, if wished. They are gracious but when pressed to point of exhaustion, give them space. If everyone had a country club membership where coffee, iced tea refills are of course free….but not the case. After commuting or just need some think time, or chat time Starbucks filled a void unlike long gone coffee shops, Denny’s etc., McDonalds was never healthy and sitting in there is like being in some Disney Tomorrowland ghost town, uncomfotable, and weird ghost town. Starbucks food prices have gone up, but one can save for a beautiful Mercato salad once in a while or their latest protein almond & date powder shake, tastes like a scrumptious date shake but no sugar and nearest date area is 80 miles away. Starbucks is not a pub per see, or a Michelin 5 star, but it is a stopover, and much welcomed break that helps the mind just S T O P for a while. Too ripped on caffeine from work, take a caffy break and have a refresher, a fusion or plain iced tea, sparkling fruit infused water. Work has become exceedingly much more stressful than before, people can walk in sit hopefully or just sit and stare at nothing and rest the mind. The comfy chairs of the 90’s won’t be back because retail space is too expensive. But stress, higher rent and less living space needs a place to go, change the energy. Starbuck’s still serves a need, people are moving from place to place much faster, even the work at home people need to move around. Do not like the coffee at the independent places, some is $ 5 cup or nothing with real attitude. Have you ever watched a Starbucks barista, they are continually moving, serving, they are not servants and remember they are working, not trust fund babies.
I guess the problem in a nutshell is that over the years Starbucks has seemed more and more like a very corporate McDonalds of coffee, which has played out in a number of ways that have affected my visits to Starbucks. I am most likely to go to Starbucks out of convenience because I have a card on auto-reload and Starbucks has many locations.
A few years ago the stores began to be understaffed, and I’d rather not wait on a long line if another coffee shop nearby doesn’t have one.
I want the option to get decaf after 12 noon and I no longer can, and not I DO NOT want an Americano.
And some stores do not put out whole milk, just half and half and skim, neither of which works for me, separately or combined – and no, I don’t want to have to ask at the counter every time.
If I want flavored coffee I have to get it elsewhere.
I like to try new coffee drinks but most of them are high sugar which means I cannot have them. I cannot eat most of the food, either because it is too high carb or it is weird/unappealing. I gather Siggi’s vanilla yogurt, which I sometimes bought, will no longer be carried in lieu of various yogurt parfaits that I cannot eat.
I can’t linger in stores half the year because the air conditioning is so strong I need a coat. This is assuming I can get a seat.
Starbucks no longer sends postcards when we have earned a reward, so it is hard to keep track of when I have one.
We no longer get a free coffee when purchasing a bag in-store. Bags cost more in supermarkets.
This year I didn’t get a birthday reward and I don’t know why.
My husband and I go a lot less because of the prices creeping up and we were gaining weight from having so many frappuccinos. Now we get a drink and split it about once a week. We barely ever purchase coffee from Sbux. On hot days we will get a ice lemonade with some other flavor. I will add that when we do step into a Starbucks we are usually looking for a new card or cup. We have found that Target offers discounts via their app so we don’t spend as much money if we hit a Tarbucks.
I don’t think I would ever give up my daily Starbucks but I am concerned that Howard Schultz is gone and you can’t replicate his success to me that is what is hurting SBUX here. I think the new CEOs not as good of an Innovator as Howard was IMO.
My closest Starbucks has become something of a WeWork during the day with every table occupied for hours. It’s no longer that nice or upscale. It’s students and people w/o wi-fi access.
I really like the Roastery stores. I would gladly spend $5 for a cup of coffee for a nice environment while I sip on my coffee.
I agree that w/o Howard, Starbucks will drift and the stock price will gradually collapse. I would not be surprised to see a 70 something year old Schultz step back in and rescue Starbucks one last time.
Don’t forget that the Reserve program (and the Roasteries) is Howard’s pet project. That’s his baby. If he’s out and penny pinchers are left in charge, that might spell the end to that. Which would mean no more Starbucks for me. Reserve Bar and the Rewards program are keeping me a customer. I was all set to quit going when it seemed all Starbucks cared about up here was pushing the latest gimmick milkshakes for the squealing high school girls (right Unicorn Frapp? right Frappy Hour?) If that isn’t a coffee chain losing focus I don’t know what is. Starbucks shouldn’t be competing with Dairy Queen but it was looking like it. They might as well load the Unicorn Frapp ingredients into a soft serve ice cream machine, the kids wouldn’t know the difference anyway and the lineup would move so much faster.
They’re turning my corner store into a drive-thru and I know I won’t get as much benefit from sitting and talking to Baristas because every other drive-thru I’ve seen has been so busy. The price point has gotten out of control. And yes, though I don’t indulge in Daily drinks anymore, when I do I’ve noticed that that mocha just doesn’t have the rich flavor it used to.
As far as the Roastery goes, I was just there today. I noticed that when I ordered a drink no one explained it to me. I noticed I had to ask for a taster card, and finally the fellow behind the counter asked if I wanted to try something.
I felt like it was just get your drink and get away from here cuz we’re really busy.
Then I went to buy some coffee. They have a special blend right now but it is $80 for 8 oz. I’ve gotten it every year that it came out and I bought it in 2 OZ increments. I collect the cards and so do my friends and I loved the coffee.
This year however, it is not on the scoop bar, you couldn’t taste it at the counter and they would not break up the vacuum bag . Worst of all when I offered to buy the $80 bag if they would split it up into four bags and give me three extra cards they said no they couldn’t give me extra cards . I could pay $80 but they can’t spare three taster cards . I walked out and I may not go back . Who wants to buy coffee they can’t even taste . Who wants to be treated like they are a second-class person for wanting to have one of their beautiful cards.
Yes it seems the need for money has replaced the need for that space where we used to gather. I can’t even go there and buy K-Cups for home anymore. I think that I will be seeing less and less of Starbucks. It’s really sad.
My store works very hard at customer connections. My manager promotes it. We have all the numbers availible for staff to see so where know where to improve. We watch the training and everything. A problem in my store is new and young barista. The training is FAST the menu and modifications to drinks are lengthy. Not as many things are “standard build” which is more for everyone to learn and remember. All that said, we just seem to keep getting busier. Add a new not fab supervisor to the mix and it’s the perfect storm for mis made drinks and long waits. Good partners who care and work hard are hard to find, But are needed to earn labor to more help to make things move more smothly. I got kicked on Sat. There was a 5k in our town I did not have any of the “best” partners we beat our half hour transactions and goal even so AND I had a no show. We could have done so much better with at least THAT extra person.
I always thought Starbucks will eventually run into less sales. I’ve never boughten any food items because, if you look at the nutrition label. The fat content is way to much. Plus, every time you microwave , heat up something in that place, it smells horrible. Food is not supposed to smell like that! Prices are way to expensive and inconsistent and so are the drinks. Every drink, especially the healthy juices. Who buys this? If Starbucks wants to improve quality, go ORGANIC. Bring in fresh squeezed juices and make sandwiches fresh! Then, you got my attention. I can go anywhere else for organic coffee and real, fresh food. I do, however love the oatmeal with toppings. And, keep up the matcha. Peace
I used to go to Starbucks 7-9 times per week. The premium I previously paid was offset by their exquisite quality control, but overtime, that focus on providing a consistent and reliable beverage has faded. Lately it seems, I pay a premium for no reason at all when I go to Starbucks. The lack of, or oversight of Quality Control at has allowed local coffee shops to find their niche, and thrive. Coffee has always been about the experience, as much as it is about the beverage and smaller shops are providing both. In a prediction, this loss of control over quality will take the stock price to $30 in the next six months; mainly because in the time lost, customers are building new loyalties with great local coffee shops in their neighborhood. The next 12-18 months are going to be the greatest challenge Starbucks has had as small business continue to grow their client base, and other large companies like Coca-cola enter the world of caffeinated and medicated beverages.
I only go for Star Challenges now, and I’m much more selective about those than in the past. If it’s something easily achievable and a good reward, sure. But if it’s one of those requiring visiting x number of days in a row, forget it. You miss one day for whatever reason, and you’ve lost all progress. Or else you feel forced to go to SBUX instead of somewhere better, which makes it feel more like a punishment instead of a reward.
It’s increasingly rare to be in an area where there aren’t much better options. SBUX drinks can be sometimes good, sometimes awful, and the food is generally always in the bad category. Yet other places (chains and locals) get at least one of those things right. There’s just no reason to go to SBUX unless you want to pay a premium for what is likely to be a mediocre product and experience.
The Third Place days are long gone. The store environment, especially with those awful beeping ovens, isn’t pleasant. The recent corporate FB post about Howard having a FB Page tells you all you need to know. Look at the number of comments from people who have no idea who he is. The same is true of most customers: no one knows what SBUX even is anymore.
First, I like Starbucks. I started going regularly about a half dozen years ago when I moved from the Mid-Atlantic area. Up to that time I didn’t like or want fancy drinks (I could get smoothies elsewhere) and the black coffee, my “go to drink” tasted burnt, and the tea bagged tea was too expensive to justify. When I moved to my current location, Starbucks became my local place for internet (Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s discouraged extended stays, and Dunkin Donuts charges for refills). Starbucks was convenient, dog and I could sit outside comfortably, and rewards were worthwhile. The past year or so I’ve gone to Starbucks less often, still several or more times a week, for either coffee or Refreshers (the trick is to get a Refresher, no water no ice – used to be able to add lemonade but now they charge extra for it – and add ice and water to dilute it as you drink). and the past three or six months a little less frequently, in part because I’m tired of it. Of my two (of several local Starbucks) regular stops, one is pretty much a training store but they have, trainees excepted, a good staff, most recognize me, the other store much less cognizant of the regulars in my opinion. I just got tired of going there almost daily.
Similar to what Carl said, “I only go for Star Challenges now, and I’m much more selective about those than in the past”, I go for coffee or a refresher, not for challenges only, but I too am much more selective. Carl wrote “If it’s something easily achievable and a good reward, sure. But if it’s one of those requiring visitibut I too am ng x number of days in a row, forget it. You miss one day for whatever reason, and you’ve lost all progress. Or else you feel forced to go to SBUX instead of somewhere better, which makes it feel more like a punishment instead of a reward.” The rewards and challenges make the higher prices more justifiable, but I cannot bring myself to be interested in having to make a purchaes six days in a row (recently) or the current seven days in a row to feel I achieved something beneficial.
My alternatives? I can go to Panera, where I have less beverage choices but more options, local coffee shops which have less rewards than Starbucks, but I don’t feel I’m stuck in the same place. And I don’t feel that every time I go to Starbucks I see half or more of the tables and seats long-filled with the daily “day workers using Starbucks as their office, one cup of coffee being their rental, and they’re still there long after I leave.
Maybe if Starbucks wasn’t as close to home, and several once/twice a week regulars didn’t go there for their stay, I’d go even less often. Maybe it’s simply, “it’s boring, high priced, and I really don’t find the new drinks or food interesting.
I’ve made these points elsewhere on this blog but I think they bear repeating here. Melody is right that the Reserve concept is cannibalizing the core stores. Anybody who is actually interested in COFFEE will have visited a Core store with Reserve or a Reserve Bar (or if they’re really lucky like Melody, or travel to those locations) a Roastery or Reserve Store. When they realize they can’t find those products at their local core store and there’s no Reserve Bar near them, they start looking elsewhere — at all those independent coffee shops that DO offer the “reserve bar” gimmicks like siphons, Chemexes, rare single origins roasted on-site, VA388 Black Eagle espresso machines, SImonelli grinders, etc. I bought a TWO POUND BAG of D.R. Congo, North Kivu coffee on sale at my local Costco for a measly $14 Canadian. Congo Kivu coffee at Starbucks Reserve is more than that for a HALF POUND. And what I really feel is a slap in the face to customers like me are “Roastery Exclusives”. So, Starbucks expects me to fly to Seattle if I want to buy it? No more mail order, remember, the online store is gone. So what do you think I’ll do if I want to try such beans? I’ll be looking online at those places on CoffeeReview.Com all of which will happily ship you their rarest stuff. I’ve ordered Panama Geisha beans several times from PT’s Coffee in Kansas. If Starbucks won’t sell me their best then I guess I better look elsewhere, because Starbucks sure isn’t paying my airfare to SEA. There’s my $50 a pound (times several) that went to Topeka instead of to Seattle. And oh yes, it’s been well documented everywhere, what Starbucks calls “medium roast” is a medium dark everywhere else. The days of Starbucks dictating what roast we want, are over. The rest of the world has moved on from charcoal black Italian roasted beans. Time to fall in line with the rest of the industry and offer lighter roasts, or lose more customers. I don’t know what the answer is. Maybe it’s time to upscale the entire chain and put Clovers in more than 75% of the stores. Maybe it’s time to expand the Reserve Bar concept a LOT faster. Because customers like me are no longer interested in core products. I only ever go to my local Core store when I have a Starbucks Rewards promo I need to do (Star Dash, Menu Challenge)… building up my star account so I can head over to the Reserve Bar and get several free $12 drinks. This week’s promo was so weak (3 purchases, 50 stars) I’m definitely not spending a dollar there this week. The Rewards program may also have caused the drop in sales.
I think you hit the nail on the head. For me it’s inconsistency. Because my drink is super simple, it’s easy to compare. It is rarely made the same way and that’s super frustrating. Also, $$$. My drink is $3.15 but if i were someone who likes sweet and syrups, I’d be broke. I go not for the convenience. My coffee at home is from a local roaster and I much prefer it.
Also, somehow they just don’t seem to treat their employees well. Recently a barista from a store I don’t love was moved over to the Starbucks near my home. I LOVE her. She’s a great barista and is always so friendly. After two weeks of working there she told me she was going back to her old store reluctantly because this store couldn’t guarantee enough hours. I was so mad! They have lots of other employees who don’t work half as hard as she does. It was a loss for sure to our local store.
Recently my mom was in town and needed to use her birthday reward. I took a screenshot of her barcode in to the store and ordered the egg thing she wanted. As the employee pulled the tray of egg things out, they all fell on the floor. Granted, they were wrapped but she picked them all up off the nasty floor, looked at me, and said, “You didn’t see that.” Um, I did. It made me gag. So, things like that.
I have no idea why and I still go daily, but I will say that the prices are very high and that I also have quality problems. My drinks are often made wrong. 5 pumps of syrup in a venti caramel maciccato, only 2 shots in a venti iced latte, etc. If I had the money for a really good espresso maker, I would just make my drinks at home to avoid this.
The iced vente caramel macchiato only gets 5 pumps of vanilla because of the caramel drizzle. Are you saying they put in 6? I wasn’t sure if that was what you meant.
It’s true sometimes new baristas haven’t been trained thoroughly. We can’t keep people because for the work load the pay scale is low. If you take advantage of benefits then the pay is less important but many young people are only interested in the hourly wage. If you’re a closer you’re basically a cleaning crew. My housekeeper makes $25-$35 an hour but has to pay her own benefits. Here in Los Angeles you can’t survive on a barista’s pay but it’s a great part time job for college students or someone that needs benefits more than money.
Someone made a comment about having a Cover machine in more stores but it was a complete failure at my Starbucks. We are a draft store because it’s hot here and people seem to like it better than ordering a Clover beverage.
I don’t go daily any more and I used to go twice a day, sometimes more on the days I’d be working 20 hrs. I go a few times a week, but honestly I get tired of my espresso tasting different every time, sometimes disgustingly bitter, sometimes perfect. The prices are high and the calories are higher, so it is easier than it used to be to decide to just make a drink at home.
(1) It’s expensive, (2) it’s inconsistent, (3) sometimes I just want coffee and if it’s in the afternoon, they make it really inconvenient unless you love Pike, (4) star challenges and games are ridiculous
These comments all have a common thread and it is sad because it shows how far starbucks has fallen. I cannot help but see the connection between that fall and the subject of the article posted prior to this one ($6,000 statue for sale at starbucks)
I used to be a barista from 2010-2014 (with some breaks in the middle) in a few different states. I generally liked my time there, but Starbucks changed so much by 2014 that by the time I got to my third store, I quit after 2 months. I also worked at Seattle’s Best right before Sbux bought them and ruined it so I am a bit bitter.
Starbucks is no longer about customers, its about money. Some changes that are just not great:
-I absolutely hate the stickers with the orders that every store uses now. Its just a way to make things faster and assembly line the transaction. On cold cups they get all soggy and feel gross. I have asked baristas is they could not put the sticker on and they say they have to. I liked the look of the check boxes and that was a way to form a connection while taking their order. The stickers are ugly and poorly designed. They could do a better job if they must go the sticker route.
-Drive thru stores are horribly understaffed, loud, and busy. I will avoid drive thru stores as much as possible. The turnover in stores near me is crazy. I just got to Peet’s and Philz, especially because they have more decaf options for later in the day.
-The drink I like costs too much if I were to get it the way I really like it, which is a grande iced americano with 2 pumps mocha 2 pumps sf vanilla. If its under 4 pumps, why do I need to get charged the sauce and syrup fee?
-They got rid of the website to bring people into the stores, but the stores near me have remodeled and gotten rid of most of their merchandise.
-The pastries used to be loaves that we would split up from the paper loaf pan, now they are individually plastic wrapped frozen pastries that they sell for more and taste worse.
I basically go to Starbucks about once a week now. I make my coffee at home or go to other local places or chains. Like other people said, Starbucks has become the McDonalds of coffee and I just don’t have the interest in them that I once had.
As a telecommuter, I’m contemplating a change due to a very different reason than most who have posted. It has to do with work productivity. Should I spend my monthly coffee budget in a Starbucks or at a co-work space with average coffee included?
I’ve been a 5x week steady customer, often sitting in any one of my area stores for hours, since 2010. I don’t spend big dollars in the store, but average about $125/month on coffee and food. No doubt, I’m especially addicted to the SB taste and caffeine level of my daily brew. But.. I’m finding my ability to concentrate and endure the frigid store temps affecting daily work productivity. The past two months have been especially challenging. After a recent store remodel, the average store temp is now hovering in the 65-67 degree F range. I know, as I carry a portable indoor/outdoor thermostat in my laptop bag.
Several studies have been done, assessing office worker productivity, affected by indoor temperature settings. Here’s a link highlighting typing results per OSHA & Cornell University studies>
https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/why-frigid-office-temperatures-can-be-bad-for-business
I may switch to a co-work membership and forego Starbucks altogether. Monthly memberships are about the same budget (under $150).
In a very important way, your reason is the same as everyone else’s.
Howard Schultz used to say Starbucks was not in the coffee business. Instead, Starbucks was in the people business, serving coffee.
I think the company has lost sight of that – whether it is store temperature, uncomfortable seating, loss of customer connection or shoddy drinks and food.
Growth cannot be maintained via gimmicks without ultimately impacting what matters most.
I used to be a 5+ times a week customer, but now I only go once in a while. The prices have crept up enough that I don’t feel I’m getting my money’s worth. I’m sitting at a reserve store right now and was pretty excited to try the vanilla creme anglaise macchiatto they had a nice colorful illustration for up on the menu board, but they were out of it. Blah.
I stopped going as often when they removed the Clover and Reserve coffees from my local store. Then the merchandise left as well as the online store. Seems ludicrous that the largest coffee company does not have an online store and keeps merchandise out of many of their stores. I used to buy mocha sauce and pumpkin spice sauce from the online store as well as mugs and other items. I liked browsing the store from the comfort of my home. I can actually buy more merchandise and coffee from the Starbucks inside my local grocery store. That makes no sense. It’s just fast food now. My adult kids and I search out and really enjoy the indie coffee shops in and around Indianapolis now. Starbucks is still plentiful and we do use them while traveling if a local indie shop can’t be accessed easily. I love a blonde mocha and will get those when travel makes Starbucks necessary.
I remember when I first went into a Starbucks many years ago with my sister and niece the day after Thanksgiving. It was warm and welcoming and beautifully decorated. Those days are gone.
available parking and access to stores
I was particularly irked by the last price increases. But before that the decision to ditch Tazo’s straight leaf quality for Tevanna’s low-leaf-quality fancy kiddie flavor products turned me off. Focus on pure flavors and high quality. Less on syrups, mixes and sweetness. For instance, make an unsweetend chai concentrate that can be sweetened to taste. The lightly sweetened chai experiment was still way to sweet. The base still had sugar in it. Offer tea varieties based on the quality of the leaves and the flavors of different regions.
I had really stopped going to Sbux for coffee years ago, but continued to get tea. Until the Teavana fiasco. You nailed it with the tea problems they introduced.
the only thing “elevated” about tea at starbucks these days is the price.
It seems like Melody is going to Starbucks less now, too! Or at least blogging less.
I guess we all have our memories of how great many parts of Starbucks once were. I’m sure that’s how Howard feels, too: the Golden Age is over. It’s the new McDonald’s. The heart of Starbucks is dead.
I go way less now that they have cut so many sugar free (or sugar modifiable) options. I am hoping those “flavor extracts” roll out soon. I would maybe pay $4 for a fun, but low sugar drink. I am not likely to pay $4 for the same espresso I can brew at home.
All my favorite Seattle locations are now crowded with homeless people and the lack of hygiene is too much for me. Not blaming them, they can’t help it, and it’s great that Starbucks welcomes them and treats them with respect, but it’s just no longer a pleasant experience because of it.
There’s a stinky homeless guy who has taken over my local Starbucks, so I no longer go because of him. And he CAN help it. There is an agency here called Our Place which is a 20 minute walk from that Starbucks location. Our Place offers free shower and laundry services five days a week.
The Starbucks buddy I had from work retired. It was part of our ritual, at least once a week to go. Clearly anecdotal, not something that Starbucks could address.
I was a partner for 12 years – I left because of an SM who didn’t give a damn about his partners. Now, I work a five-day a week job, no nights or weekends. Yes, less money. Yes, I miss my customers. But I’m at Starbucks every day, and the changes are killing the company.
Goodbye, Third Place, hello Closing at 8 pm. Goodbye Customer Relations, hello take care of DT first – cafe customers aren’t timed. Goodbye Comfortable seating, hello hard metal surfaces, no outlets, let us just get people out of here ASAP.
And that’s just what I’m seeing as a customer! The training isn’t what it used to be, there are more crappy drinks with rapid turnover, deliveries are sporadic, the promotions are insane (The Red Reusable cup – sending only 25 to a store? I didn’t want it, but a lot of other people did!) Less US-based merchandise, almost everything made in China… I am part of a group that has been meeting at Starbucks on Friday nights for more than 5 years – now, all the stores within a 10-mile radius will be closing at 8:00 or 8:30 on Fridays… WTF? Clovers are gone, no idea when Clover X might possibly show up (We heard about it 2 years ago…), the third-party maintenance companies are a joke, and have been for years. If an espresso machine goes down, and you aren’t in a major metropolitan area, it could be 3 days before the repair.
I still like the coffee, I still like the folks at my local shop, but when I left at the beginning of 2018, I certainly made the right choice.
This is so sad. I read so many of the reply’s before even thinking to attempt to say “I moved from California to a country town In the South! There is no Starbucks in the area and the closest one is literally 30 miles away. I miss Starbucks, especially my morning Vente of Mocha!”
After reading the reply’s though I have to say I agree with a lot of the people on here. One, if I had allergies I couldn’t go to some place that has nuts contaminating every single item I wanted to buy at the coffee house. Also, I agree the price is steep but for a very good cup of coffee I’ve always thought of it as my vice, my treat and money as precious as it is in our life, but so is my coffee. I still buy my Keurig Starbucks so I am still getting my Starbucks. The price is competitive with others. So yes, if there were a Starbucks closer to me, yes, I’d be there every morning. But to drive 30 miles one way to get there, ugh, no I can’t. I love my coffee but honestly I need that coffee before 30 miles is even though of! So maybe the seating and hangout is not something I do or even the food at Starbucks. Cause honestly I’ve always been the too much to do and never enough time to do it person. So I have drive though it for most of my life at Starbucks. However everyone is not the same and we all need to think about the others and maybe that is what is missing. The personal touch is leaving our wonderful Starbucks, or is it we are leaving them?!? I sure didn’t want to give up Starbucks but life does that to us sometimes. Maybe one day they’ll build one close enough where I can drive to. But how about the consumer who can’t have almonds, or the patron who can’t sit on steel seats because they have back problems or worse.
Still love the coffee and will still stop if our to grab that coffee if in vicinity though. Haven’t completely lost me.
Every prior post that identified excessive pricing, deminished quality, and much much reduced for-sale offerings to name a few, are what I have experienced. Until 2008 I purchased individual cups of coffee as well as take home bags of beans, now I visit Starbucks once or twice a year at most. Very sad. Management decision failed to include customer wants and expectations in its’ financial planning.
5 yrs or so someone commented to me that they thought Sbux was making a mistake going big into promoting tea (even tho tea is huge biz), the bakery items, basically all that stuff other than coffee… he said in time it would result in creating a perception that Sbux was no longer focusing on superior coffee anymore, and that’s what made them great.
It seemed that Sbux decided they should be more like a restaurant but I don’t see how that is going to work, at their current stores anyway. Just so much “stuff” in there now.
Sbux used to be “THAT COFFEE PLACE” to go to when you had to have that really great cup of coffee that was so good you gladly paid more for it than you would for a weaker cup at the local restaurant, or that horrible watery mix from a machine. Sbux is why I splurged on an espresso machine, so I could brew their coffee and ONLY brewed their coffee at home, for years.
Sbux used to be a nice place to meet and get a really good cup of coffee. Now it is so loud… and not in a good way, not very welcoming.
I appreciate the bottom line is, well, the bottom line; and that there are those that expect profits to be greater each year. I think the new CEO has huge challenges and probably inherited most of them, if not all.
Someone after buying a tea company and a San Fran bakery outlet discovered how profitable drive-thru stores were. One was then added to every store as soon as possible. I even saw them move a store a couple blocks down just to add a drive-thru. Soon after came the order by app with drinks piling up at the end of the counter. Yet if you were just to walk-in and order in the store all those app orders and the drive-thru were bumping you to the back. Unless you happened to go during the slower times, you were out of luck and likely left.
I have often resorted going instead to a Target or even a Kroger where the Baristas aren’t quite as crazy busy.
The machines are still loud but the atmosphere is overall quieter, more important CALMER. Funny don’t think I am the only one doing this as there usually longer lines these days. These store seems cleaner too… not sure they are, but it seems that way.
And the baristas do the drinks one customer at a time, with no drive-thru interruptions (so far), and if they are taking app orders, haven’t noticed. So it’s somewhat of a throw-back”substitute”.
Today there are a lot of good and affordable coffee selections at the grocery, and some of the cold coffees especially are very good with organic or at least decent ingredients. I find myself buying them more and more often these days.