Editor’s Pick
OCTOBER 6, 2009 9:31AM
The Angry American: Starbucks, the New McDonalds?
But this is bigger than just instant coffee. It started with the Caramel Machiatto, the unholy alliance of coffee and a quantity of sugar that could only be conceived in America. Then Starbucks moved onto the Egg McMuffin--sorry, the Saugage and English Muffin with Egg White, that costs twice as much as an English Muffin. Then the comfy chairs started disappearing. Baristas started shouting orders.
Starbucks' business model was fashioned along the same lines as McDonald's. McDonald's offered fast food, but the real revelation was that clean bathroom and a consistent experience. Starbucks built the third-location, the place that wasn't an office, but wasn't home either. A bar for the non-drinker, consistently placed in every city so regardless of where you were, there was your local hang out.
And that doesn't bother me. Go Starbucks. Do your thing. But everyone else, what's the point? The ambiance is gone. The coffee is burned. Everything on the Starbucks menu can be purchased at the equally ubiquitous McDonald's now for half the price.
And that, my friends, is what bothers me. Before Starbucks, there was a time when a cup of coffee could be purchased for under a dollar. Then Starbucks made it an experience. Poetry on paper cups. $1.50. Italian names. $2.00. I can buy a cappuccino in Italy for half the price of one served to me at the Starbucks across the street.
I just want coffee. But because of Starbucks I can't have coffee no matter where I go. Instead it's a venti or a grande. Instead it's not a cup of coffee, it's "Seattle's Roast Blend" and everyone knows they can charge as much as Starbucks because they've made it okay.
Well, the caffeine high has worn off, America. Rub your eyes and look around. We're getting duped. Go to McDonald's. Better, go to a cafe (if they still exist). The Via is the last straw.
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Comments
@ Stellaa. I'm from Seattle myself, but recently moved to DC. There are NO coffee shops in this city aside from Starbucks. It hurts my soul. Starbucks guy started at Peets?! That's damned interesting!
@ Feed the Cat. Amen. You ever have them correct you? "I'll have a medium coffee?" "You mean grande?" Lol.
@ Leeandra. For a short time in Seattle there were two Starbucks across the street from one another, down on Pine Street, I believe. I have a pictures somewhere ...
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=718216&l=fbe5bb7088&id=1339233841
With these economic times I find we are at McD's a lot. Somehow I wonder if I should be embarrassed. All the overtime and four busy kids. I love the $1 ice tea and the new angus burgers. The new coffees are 'good'. I cannot tell much of a difference between a Buckies and a McD's coffee- except for the price. While I would love to get hand roasted coffee picked by virgins in a secluded island, what would be the point? High Class worries. I sure don't need any more worries. I'd love to have a 'lifestyle'- but I'll be happy with a decent cup of coffee.
Go figure.
I guess for me it comes down to the product and the company that sell them. If the companies who want my business show a genuine interest in being a good community corporate partner that get my business even if their cost are a little higher.
I love McDonald's breakfast sandwiches but they are very high in fat so I don't indulge on a regular basis. Their coffee drinks and tea are too sweet for my taste, but that does not mean they are bad, just not my taste.
I tried the VIA taste test and it was a good product for what it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZZAFRWTGZ8
And like Feedthecat, I refuse to ask for ventes or grandes. I say "medium". And, yes, they always correct me.
I hate the stupid Italian words not used in Italy for the cup sizes. It is definitely dorky. When I'm in a hurry I go with the flow but I do like to grind their gears by asking for "the biggest size" or "the middle size, whatever you call it" now and again.
I horrified a colleague who claimed "Seattle's Best" coffee was superior by informing him it's a branch of Starbucks.
I actually like their move into food along with the coffee. They make some decent sandwiches (favorite is turkey pesto), and sometimes that's convenient when I'm on the move.
If Starbucks across the street from Starbucks is the end of the universe, then I saw the end begin in Chicago a couple of years ago.
I haven't tried the new Macdonalds coffee. Their regular coffee used to be just fine though I hate the cheap-ass lids they use, with the flap that scratches your lip.
Best of all is I have a daughter and son-in-law living in Hawaii, so I have a line on pure Kona whenever we or they visit. Tip: stay away from the tourist stores and go to the supermarket or even (yes!) Walmart.
I remember one of the morning shows here in Seattle having a discussion about what folks were giving up due to the recession, and Starbucks was mentioned over and over again. The DJ even said that he calls it "Four Bucks", because he spends $4 on a cup of coffee every time he goes there.
In Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser - he makes the point about McDonald's that they are extremely vigilant about making sure that every McDonald's everywhere is the same; colors, smell, menu, furniture - because research has shown overwhelmingly that consumers want to know what they're getting. They want as little risk as possible.
And Starbucks definitely adopted that policy and it works. Lattes and such are so expensive that my wife won't go to a no name place because there's decent chance she'll spend $4 on a drink that isn't to her liking.
But as for the point of this post - yes, I suspect that the bloom is off the rose and that going forward a lot of people are going to question whether they really need a contrived, stuffy, $4 coffee "experience".
Secretly, admittedly, I kind of DO want the Starbucks experience though. I think that's why people go to Italy and Europe in general: so they can sip a latte on the sidewalk and watch folks go by. But cafes like that don't give out coffee in paper cups. It comes in mugs. I'd even be willing to pay a bit more for it.
But to brand yourself as the home-away-from-home is an oxymoron. It's the nuance and permanence and "Cheers"-meets-cafe local feel that makes a coffee place brilliant, right? Mass producing that kills it. It makes a fortune, but it kills it. So, for the Starbucks experience, you can't go to Starbucks, good cup o' Joe or not.
I grew up in Spokane, WA (hello Washingtonians). There was this coffee shop that was called "Donuts" on the corner near where I went to school. Best maple bars you could ask for. Fifty cent coffee that was as good as Starbucks and an atmosphere that was anything but exportable.
I figure cafes are bars for people who prefer coffee (at least at the time). It's an odd thing that in a world of McDonald's and multinationals that the local bar hasn't been successfully homogenized. Applebee's is pretty ubiquitous but for the amount of bars in the world, it hasn't taken over too much. People still go for the microbrews in the local haunts for the most part. Why is it so different with coffee?
If you just want a cup of coffee, then there are plenty of less expensive options -- if cost is an issue.
I don't know what costs $4 there. I get a double espresso for $2 and change.
The place I go is new and nicely furnished. There are some interesting people that hang out. There is always something going on, if you are interested. Everyone is selling something to everyone else. But that's another story.
It's not that any of the critics are being particular unfair. This is America after all and people should buy whatever damn coffee they prefer. It's in the constitution, no?
But Starbucks as a symbol of American decadence, etc. seems a bit worn. Wasn't that the thesis of David Brooks 'Bobos in Paradise'? That was back in the early aughts.
On Peets and Starbucks: Peets is not a coffee bar, Starbucks is - that's the difference of intent between the two.
History: 3 guys (2 teachers and a writer) who knew Peet started starbucks. Starbucks only sold beans and equipment - not drinks. Peet sold Peets in 1979, in 1984, Baldwin, one of the original founders of starbucks bought peets - he still works there. So, Starbucks owned Peets, (shock, horror) until the owners of Starbucks sold Starbucks to Schultz in 1987. At which point, Starbucks began to sell coffee and espresso drinks. A lot of people think there is some sort of animosity between the two companies - pure fiction.
I read about the plans for the lifestyle brand in the business section of a newspaper, once. I don't know whether it was the pipe dream of the CEO or an actual plan that got shot down by the board.
As a teen, I used to go to Harvard Square to the Coffee Connection, which had atmosphere up the wazoo (worth the bus fare and trek) and cheap, fresh, fantastic tea (far better than the mediocre Tazo). Coffee Connection franchised and opened a bland shop in my hometown and then sold out to Starbucks. So, that's the history of my area's great coffee shop. I've never quite forgiven Starbucks for the demise of the Coffee Connection.
That Starbucks now has the atmosphere of a college cafeteria without the buzz of intellectual thought.
I just can't imagine paying 3 dollars for a plain brewed cup of coffee. Particularly when I can buy a pound of excellent coffee for 9 dollars.
If you make coffee at home, this is a fair traded company and their coffee is quite wonderful, I think.
Hope
Anyhow, when I was downsized I started brewing my own coffee at home. Whatever.
I now have a newborn at home and after all the sleepless nights, whenever I get out of the house on errands I find myself inexplicably driving out of my way to the one Starbucks with a drive-thru and I order a sugary Frappucino with whip. I pay cash, so my husband won't see a debit card deduction in our checking account. For ten minutes, I enjoy the buzz and feel human for a little while.
Starbucks establishes a lot of their business based on morning drives to work. It becomes the store you frequent because it is within your work drive pattern. Even a store a half a mile away in the opposite direction of your home could never see you as a customer and has a whole different group of people.
I go to Starbucks in the same way I go to McDonalds - if there's nothing else around and I just need a cuppacoffee. If I want coffee that I'll actually enjoy, I go to one of the many indie coffeehouses, where a barista actually takes the time to craft a latte instead of just cranking them out. Starbucks really has become McDonalds. And that Via crap - it's like asphalt mixed with cocoa powder mixed with a little stale Folger's. Vile disgusting stuff.
-Nikki-
I've tried McDonald's coffee and will gladly pay for better coffee at a roaster, even on my tight budget. Generally, I brew my own from fresh ground beans. Cheaper than any of them, including McDonald's, even with good beans and hard to beat for flavor.
You used to be able to get a decent cup of coffee at any lunch counter (remember those?) for under a quarter. Then some flannel shirt wearing Gen Xer's in Seattle messed the whole thing up.
Archeologists spectulate as to whether the intoduction of lead pipe to the water system caused the downfall of Rome. Future Archeologists will spectulate on the how the upscaling of a simple beverage was the signal of our decline.
McDonald's is now working on Europe, who still frequents Starbucks more than any other franchise. Europeans, who cannot walk into restaurants during off hours as easily as we do here in America, are beginning to appreciate that a "McCafe" comes with the possibility of food, too.
McDonald's was listed as the 22nd most environmentally friendly corporation by Newsweek a month ago. I think they're cleaning up their act.
And now back to your regular programming.
One is no better than the other because it comes down to personal preference. I like the espresso at Starbucks especially with their new machines. It is constant. The Starbucks in our area are well kept, have indoor and outdoor seating. McDonalds is a great company, but I don't want to sit in a plastic booth or chairs welded to the floor when want to have a coffee.
Also from a social conscience stand point, Starbucks to me is a good corporate neighbor. They support local community organizations, pay health benefits to employees who work over 20 hours and pay an above average wage compared to other chains. For me this makes spending 40 cents more for my coffee beverage worth it.
rated.
oh, and I have even tried McDs cappuccino and it's horrible - you'd do better to buy one of those tins of "continental" coffee at the grocery store.
I had a gift card for Starbucks and treated my eldest. The pastry was old and stale, and the coffee was just yuck. At least I didn't have to pay for it. I do like the 'artifacts' of coffee they sell on the walls. I think of them as overpriced art that I would only want to look at anyway.
As for being good corporate citizens- the main issue is healthcare. Many small businesses are unable to be 'good enough' corporate citizens. If we had affordable no bullshit healthcare more mom and pops would be out there making a difference in the franchise model. (Not that franchise if inherently evil.)