There's been a number of articles lately about Starbucks and its lackluster performance. Former CEO Howard Schultz returned earlier this year to help turn the company around. Somewhere there was a tipping point at which they built one coffee shop too many. In most cities to which I've traveled in recent years, finding a Starbucks is a heck of a lot easier than finding McDonald's (can we say cannibalization?). And once you're inside, it's not just about coffee -- over the past year or two, you could buy lunch, music, books (can we say overextended?).
As the economy slows down, perks like grande non-fat chai lattes (my personal favorite) are the first to go. Stores will close, jobs will be cut. As for its product, last month, Starbucks shut down every store to get back to basics and make sure its barristas knew....well, how to make a good espresso.
Starbucks, as you may know, was named after the first mate in Moby Dick, the story of Captain Ahab's obsession with exacting revenge on a white whale that bit off his leg. The story is narrated by Ishmael, who answers the call of the sea by enlisting on the Pequod. For those of you who managed to get through secondary school without reading this classic, I won't ruin the ending, but rest assured only one of these men survives.
The question remains: is Schultz Ahab or Ishmael?
Years ago, I had a summer job at a PR firm that had Coffee Connection as its account. Its owner, George Howell, had an ambitious plan to take on Starbucks. He saw two empires, West Coast and East Coast, meeting at the Mississippi. We know who won that battle! It'll be interesting to see if Schultz can turn around Starbucks for this battle.
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