Starbucks layoffs - beginning of the end?

[HoosierHacker]

OK, so I admit - I'm addicted to Starbucks.

...waits for the gasping to cease and people to pick themselves up off the floor...

Anyways, so I go to Starbucks like 3-4 times a week. I usually just get their tall coffee - the cheapest thing on the menu.

This morning when I drove by the drive through was longer than I'm willing to sit through, so I went in.

There were two people working. Usually there are 4.

They had let some staff go, and their service was slowed because of it

I'm beginning to worry about them. Their coffee hasn't been consistently quality stuff lately and now their service is going south. Seems to me that these two things were always what differentiated them.

I personally think it would be better to just close stores and have a few really good ones than hurt their quality across the board.

Is this the beginning of the end for them?

 

[Robxcarlson]

Probably so.
I think they've lately taken on the image of excess and exorbitant luxury. Well, they've always had this image to some extant, but people laughed it off and kept on drinking $5 coffee.
Now that quite a few people are hurting, even people whose financial situation hasn't changed are cutting back and becoming more frugal. We'll lose a lot of business that are viewed as providing an unnecessary product at a premium price.

 

[thirdeye]

Charbucks....see ya...

 

[Slartibartfast]

they over saturated the market. even in my corner of the world their are multiple starbucks within 5 minutes of each other.

 

[slantman]

Everybody is panicking so all these companies are like sheep and doing the same thing "layoffs". OK 11.5 million people are out of work so that leaves about 180 million still working.

If you like Starbucks keep going there and forget about how many people are working there they were probably overstaffed to begin with.

I was in McDonalds on Sunday morning buying gift cards for my grandchildren and had to wait on line about 10 minutes. All the seniors were buying their Sunday breakfast. They had only one cashier working when there should have been at least three so go figure. And McDonalds is very profitable.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Everybody is panicking so all these companies are like sheep and doing the same thing "layoffs". OK 11.5 million people are out of work so that leaves about 180 million still working.

If you like Starbucks keep going there and forget about how many people are working there they were probably overstaffed to begin with.

I was in McDonalds on Sunday morning buying gift cards for my grandchildren and had to wait on line about 10 minutes. All the seniors were buying their Sunday breakfast. They had only one cashier working when there should have been at least three so go figure. And McDonalds is very profitable.

Yeah... My company had pretty strong profits last year and no reason they will not this year.

But they announced pay freezes and layed more people off(replacing with 'sourced contractors) citing the economy.

Guess who is not having their pay froze?

 

[Mr. Clean]

they over saturated the market. even in my corner of the world their are multiple starbucks within 5 minutes of each other.

Not unlike it is here. It seemed that there was too much growth, too fast. I don't have any financials to back this up, jmo. Hopefully, they will just shrink back to match the marketplace. I certainly don't want them to go out of business, since that kind of loss is not what the country needs.

Everybody is panicking so all these companies are like sheep and doing the same thing "layoffs". OK 11.5 million people are out of work so that leaves about 180 million still working.

If you like Starbucks keep going there and forget about how many people are working there they were probably overstaffed to begin with.

I was in McDonalds on Sunday morning buying gift cards for my grandchildren and had to wait on line about 10 minutes. All the seniors were buying their Sunday breakfast. They had only one cashier working when there should have been at least three so go figure. And McDonalds is very profitable.

I agree. If you like their product continue to support them.

I go to a small independent coffee store/shop. They roast their own either on site or at a small off-site location. We go in only once per week (not always at the same day or time of day) to buy our coffee, and there is a noticeable ebb and flow to the number of staff (as well as the staff members themselves). Perhaps this is not uncommon for this business (selling coffee).

 

[uofi1963]

You'll really need to post this over at CoffeeGeek for proper ridicule!

Joel

 

[HoosierHacker]

Hah - figured I'd get enough ridicule here! LOL

The small guys don't have a drive-through, which I find convenient. Plus, I like their coffee - when it is done well

I think they're about to get the squeeze put on them.

And yes, I agree - companies always use global "downturns" in the economy to lay off people or freeze pay to force attrition. It is much easier to cite financial reasons to cut dead wood than it is to fire people for cause. Lawsuits are a pain.

 

[Fnord5]

Charbucks....see ya...

Exactly!

I have yet to see a quality drink from that place.
Everything tastes like old grounds and cigarette butts.

 

[mmack66]

McDonalds and other such places that are selling coffee and coffee related drinks are taking a big chunk of their business as well.

 

[HoosierHacker]

McDonalds and other such places that are selling coffee and coffee related drinks are taking a big chunk of their business as well.

Agreed. I was in this Starbuck a month or so back, and the barista was telling me how biased the market research saying people liked Dunkin' Donuts coffee more was.

Sign.

 

[ouch]

they over saturated the market. even in my corner of the world their are multiple starbucks within 5 minutes of each other.

Lewis Black has a routine where he exits a *$ and sees another directly across the street. He concludes that they must be targeting the Alzheimer's demographic.

 

[Fnord5]

Lewis Black has a routine where he exits a *$ and sees another directly across the street. He concludes that they must be targeting the Alzheimer's demographic.

Didn't he also say that he went to take a leak in one, and found another in the bathroom?

 

[dpm802]

I love Starbucks coffee ... but I'm not crazy about the place as "hanging out destination." I buy my cup (with my Starbucks Gold Card, of course) and then leave.

They lost some of my faith when they introduced Pike Place coffee ... and made it the ONLY choice they had on tap most of the day. My shift ends at noon, and I stop for a cup of coffee once or twice a week on the way home. I'd like to be able to drink something different once in a while. Not so when they only have one flavor to choose from.

The Starbucks I stop at used to have a 24/7 operation. They were open at 3:15 AM when I was on my way to work. But they closed down the graveyard shift in November. Same thing happened to the night shift at the Dunkin' Donuts where I'd pick up a breakfast sandwich to go with my Starbucks coffee.

None of the workers from the graveyard shifts lost their jobs ... they just moved to different shifts. If anything, they are making more money, since increased traffic on those shifts means more in the tip jar.

Still, its sad for us night-owls. Not everyone that wants to drink coffee lives their life on a 9-to-5 basis. They should take into account the many loyal customers that were there night after night after night ... and not just because there was no place else to go. We stopped and gave them our business because we liked the products and the service. Now ... our only choices are between 7-11 and WaWa, and neither one even comes close.

 

[kwk285]

Most every industry is currently going thru some form of downsizing or reorganization. It is unfortunate that many people have lost their jobs. In this time of flux, these companies need to find what they do well and stick to it. This will mean that many companies will have to change the way that they do business and people may have to redefine what the do for a living.

You look at the history of our country, no matter what the govenment did to industry, industry still grew.

 

[gunner6477]

I am surprised it has taken this long. It seems that the first item listed in every "how you can save money" segment on the nightly news or in magazines is about cutting out your designer coffee...Now that people are desperately trying to hold onto their cash, their morning java purchase is the first thing to go.

 

[sirahren]

I've noticed the poor service too. And one in Marina Del Rey was even closed at 7:00pm last saturday becasue of barista shortage. I didnt put together that it was because of layoffs until just now.

I like their bold roasts... and Starbucks really did make other chains step up their coffee offerings which I enjoy. Theres something reassuring in knowing that I can get a cup of Starbucks almost anywhere I travel.

That being said I enjoy Peets much more as a chain, (founded by the same person who founded Starbucks) and enjoy making my own coffee even more.

(Leaves to find some coffee...)

 

[uofi1963]

Here in the Windy City, we're blessed with Intelligentsia and Metropolis, cafe/roasters of supreme quality.

In the 20 years or so that I've tried *$s, quality has declined sharply. When the newer super-auto machines were installed, I asked for a demo shot. The extraction took all of 8 seconds with the barista proclaiming, "There! A perfect shot every time!"

20 years ago, new hires were put through an actual training program. No more!

old Joel

 

[arghblech]

Glad they are cutting back. Not 2 miles from my place, there are two starbucks at the same intersection. One on the NE corner and one on the SE corner.

They burn their coffee and have injected their stupid-*** coffee jargon into my world. I hope they all burn.

Starbucks == McDonalds