Is Starbucks about to go back to its roots?
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thanks to the editor of the Boughton's Coffee House for drawing our attention to an article in the Wall Street journal -
"The Wall Street Journal has reported an astonishing internal memo from Starbucks’ chairman to his staff, in which he says that the chain is in danger of ‘commoditization’. Howard Schultz told staff that they had created "stores that no longer have the soul of the past....Some people even call our stores sterile.” The bizarre aspect of this, of course, is that Mr Schultz was the driving force behind the whole Starbucks growth – when he joined the company, his far-sighted vision scared the daylights out of the original founders! The Wall St Journal now says – “But now Mr. Schultz is questioning whether Starbucks' drive for growth and efficiency has diluted the experience. His 800-word memo questioned whether Starbucks' automatic espresso machines, new store designs and elimination of some in-store coffee grinding may have compromised the ‘romance and theatre’ of a visit’.
Our thanks to Ian Boughton and Trudi Roark; for more details go to:
www.coffee-house.org.ukLabels: starbucks
