In defense of Starbucks
EDITORIAL
What prompted this post was an article by Ellen Wolfhorst from Reuters published today - Some coffee fans get grim delight in Starbucks woes - which raised some questions with us as to what motivated Ms. Wolfhorst and/or Reuters to write such a story with that kind of an angle, one that clearly seemed to find far more anti-Starbucks people than supporters.
So, we take it upon ourselves to offer a different perspective.
We begin by saying that we are huge Starbucks supporters, daily consumers (often multiple times daily) of the brand who intentionally seek out their locations wherever we go. Admired them for years for how they revolutionized the approach to not only brewing quality coffee but even more for creating a new leisure and lifestyle paradigm that transformed the coffee-only experience.
From strictly a former New Yorker and New Jersey-boy perspective, thanks to Starbucks, gone was the dominance of the traditional Burger/Coffee Shop and American Diner (as opposed to local espresso/coffee houses dedicated to brewing quality coffee) that, at least within New York's tri-state region - always discouraged their patrons from sitting around just buying coffee, always forced them to buy food in order to stay, always hired too many worthless servers whose bad attitudes erupted into unprofessional conduct because you were only ordering coffee and weren't spending $40 or $50 in their too-often rat-infested dives - and who always pressured you to then move on to make room for the next group.
Some Burger/Coffee Shops & Diners we know of on Madison Avenue, for example, from the 50s to the 90s in Midtown Manhattan, actually put wooden plaques at each table specifying (1) the minimum number of patrons allowed to sit in a booth, (2) how long they could stay and (3) what their minimum bill had to be. Even in a City of 10 million plus people, and considering the hundreds of these locations throughout that City, that's still not good business, just total greed and the manipulative signs of a fascist monopoly.
Now, don't get us wrong, we fully, actively and regularly support small businesses in our communities, like the multi-location place on Newbury Street in Boston called Espresso Royale and another throughout Boston's South Shore called Coffee Break Cafe, both with outstanding espresso and regular coffee.
But there's an additional issue we've considered. Too often, at too many places here in Boston but most especially throughout New York City, they have also consistently failed to maintain the kind of superb hygiene standards that large chains like Starbucks (or the two places we mentioned above) mandate for the owners or managers to maintain - which is usually well-above local health standards.
And we can't forget that even some Dunkin' Donuts locations around Boston have horse flies and gnats landing on their always uncovered donuts! But as we wrote in that piece, at least Starbucks encases - and refrigerates - all of their food, as do both Espresso Royale and Coffee Break Cafe, we might make certain to add.
So hey, if you don't like Starbucks - just like programs on television - don't watch them, don't go in!
But don't knock a company that has also done more - and spent more - to not only educate the general public about the various levels of quality coffee that are out there, which in turn, made it that much easier for local mom-and-pop coffee houses to have a fully-informed customer - but who also changed the leisure paradigm for everyone, for the better.
And stop whining!
