Starbucks' newly announced
$2 afternoon beverage is reserved for customers that have already purchased a coffee drink earlier in the day. Essentially, the plan is a buy-one-get-one-half-off promotion, and Starbucks knows that many consumers have a tough time passing up what's perceived as a "discount."
On one hand, the three-week promotion might encourage daily customers to return in the afternoons when they may normally opt for another type of pick-me-up. But on the other hand, I'm not sure the promotion will attract customers who are already loyal to Starbucks's competitors when it requires visiting the store twice in one day.
Starbucks has announced its plan to offer an afternoon discount to morning customers. Present a receipt of your morning beverage after 2 p.m. and you can order any iced grande coffee drink (including Frappuccinos!) for just $2.
The names of all the companies that have announced staffing cuts this year are beginning to run together. Most recently, Starbucks announced their plan to cut
almost 1,000 non-store jobs in addition to the
12,000 or so layoffs that will come as a result of the
616 store closures.
All of this grim employment news has me wondering, do you know anyone who has lost a job this year.
In a last-minute change of heart,
Starbucks has decided to keep its breakfast sandwiches on the menu. Last January the coffee giant announced that it would be
pulling all of its breakfast sandwiches from stores this September. The reason.
Now that Starbucks has come forward with
its official list of stores to close by the first half of 2009, some of the stores' regulars have banded together in launching a Save Our Starbucks campaign. On
its website, the caffeine crusaders are asking other Starbucks lovers to "tell the world your Starbucks story and how much you value your local location."
The appeals from customers are coming
to Starbucks in the form of letters, phone calls, and petitions. One woman, a facilities manager for a software company in Manhattan, said this of the Starbucks closing in her company's new office building: "Now that it's going away, we're devastated."
California, Florida, and Texas will see the most store closures, but proportionately Mississippi, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska will be losing the largest percentage of locations.
By now you must have heard that
Starbucks is closing 600 of its stateside coffee shops. Last week
Starbucks released the
official list of the closing stores with a grand total of 616 closures. The closing stores are company-operated stand alone locations; no bookstore, super market, or airport Starbucks will be shuttered.
No more need for
the rumorville, because Starbucks has released a list of the 616
stores that will close their doors for good by June 2009. You may have just been getting to know the green-aproned staff at these locations, as most were opened sometime in the last two years.
The 616 of Starbucks's 7,087 total US stores were unprofitable and many could identify another Starbucks as neighbors.
With
reality stars posing as fashion designers and
singers turning into restaurateurs, it's no surprise that Starbucks and Subway would expand into something other than caffeinated beverages and sandwiches. Tomorrow
Starbucks is scheduled to launch a new smoothie line. Called Vivanno Nourishing Blends, the smoothies come in two flavors: Orange Mango Banana and Chocolate Banana.
It's a fact that
Starbucks will close 600 stores and the whole process will continue into 2009. It's also a fact that the
US is saturated with the coffee shops. This map, however, is the result of tips from Starbucks employees and some eavesdropping reporters.
