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The Magic of Starbucks
Starbucks is one of the few places on earth - think about it - where your beverage is freshly, custom-made by a real live person, right in front of you, often someone who knows you by name. It's a personal experience. Where else can you get that these days?
Starbucks may be a huge commercial enterprise, but it's also a uniquely local connection. We need more of that, don't we?
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:29 pm
That’s so true. What’s really impressive is that larger manufacturers are making this simple and easy for customers to almost create their own individual sub-brands, e.g. Nike, Adidas, Scion, Build-A-Bear
October 5th, 2007 at 10:08 am
Where else can you get this personal experience? How about a local cafe run by a local entrepreneur? I’ll go to Starbucks on occasion, but I prefer my neighborhood cafes (downtown San Diego) where they *truly* know me.
I’m not anti-Starbucks, but they aren’t a “uniquely local connection”. As with any national corporate chain, most of their revenue flows out of the local economy, unlike true local businesses. They do a good job of fostering local community, I agree, but let’s not give them more credit than is due. The Starbucks customer advantage is not a local connection, but rather consistency, quality, and speed.
Lastly, I don’t really get the comment about Starbucks being “one of the few places on earth” to get what you describe. Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but every cafe and bar on earth offers this. The issue about knowing your name only comes with your loyalty to that establishment — not that it’s Starbucks.
So, yes, we need more of a local connection, but not from corporate giants. Instead, local entrepreneurs and merchants should be frequented when possible to avoid further homogenization of our culture.
October 5th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Agree with Andrew - the true benefit of Starbucks is consistency of experience at a very high level across the network, not intimacy. And with the advent of Peet’s in SFO, Caribou in MSP and others in other regions, competitors have actually added a regional / local flair as a differentiator to Starbucks…
Go to a Starbucks in Shanghai…pretty similar to the one across the street. I think there was even an HBR article on Starbuck’s strategy of brand consistency regardless of regional cultural “mythology” while opening a footprint in APAC awhile back.
Hey Toph!
October 8th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
A clarification: I didn’t mean to insinuate that Starbucks is not a commercial megalopoloy nor that it is as local as the local shopkeep. Only that the act of having someone prepare a beverage for you personally is fairly unique in our society these days. Most daily transactions are just that - transactional. This one has a little bit of artisanship, a little bit of grace, a little bit of humanity.
Yes, in contrast to other places and purchases, it may not be a big deal. But I submit that around here, it is.