Venti Venting

Speaking from experience, I know first hand how much it sucks to be on the receiving end of a corporate downsizing. As such, I have nothing but sympathy for the thousands of workers currently employed by Starbucks who are about to lose their jobs. From what I've seen, they tend to be on the younger side as well. My heart genuinely goes out to them in this uncertain period.

That all said, don't ask me to feel bad about the gargantuan coffee conglomerate's current plight. As far as I'm concerned, it seems a bit like karmic retribution for their tireless campaign for marketplace ubiquity. The onslaught of Starbucks has also done more to homogenize my city (and, I'd suspect, practically every city in the free world) more than any other single element I can think of. At the moment, they're everywhere. A block away from my home, you can sit in one Starbucks, stare out its window and see another Starbucks barely a stone's throw away. It's ridiculous.

I'm not going to pretend I've never spent any time or money in a Starbucks. Frankly speaking, while I think their coffee is deplorably overrated (am I the only person who thinks that it always tastes a little burnt?), I'm certainly no stranger to the odd Frappacino. I'll certainly be able to survive without them, however. What I don't quite understand is the sudden outpouring of grief over the impending closings of 600 outlets. Recent articles in both Slate and AM New York (to name but two) spun weepy yarns by tearful regulars, earnestly lamenting the loss of their local branches.  Where was that grief when the genuinely local, independent coffee shops and diners saw their respective businesses dry up as a result of Starbucks' influx? To my fellow New Yorkers who are fretting about the closings, I suggest re-discovering your local Greek deli or bodega (if it hasn't already closed up shop) and giving them your money to satiate your precious java habit. They still need it more than Starbucks.

Yeah, I'm a bitter old poop, but what can I tell ya? I think another reason I hate Starbucks is because of their infiltration of the music market. While, yes, I'll applaud any shop that continues to sell compact discs in 2008 (an increasingly rarer situation), I bristle at Starbucks Entertainment's clumsy re-purposing , re-packaging and blandifying corporate sanitization of music I still hold vehemently dear. I spotted this dreadful product in the Starbucks in my office building recently and shuddered with contempt. I suppose I should support the campaign to keep this music available and out there, but something about the all-too-neatly comprised and decidedly revisionist presentation made me upset (Tom Tom Club, for example, have absolutely no business being on the same disc as Joy Division). Much like the very essence of the Starbucks mission, I resent the whole convenience of it all. Most of this music wasn't meant to be so blithely available, homogenous and convenient. That was kinda the whole point. 

Then again, I'm really uptight about that stuff. In any case, so long, Starbucks! Don't let the door hit hit ya on your way out.

Comments

[hntrnyc]

i remember the first time i heard the term "lifestyle" marketing used in conjunction with breaking a new music act. starbucks and urban outfitters were mentioned in the next sentence.
little did i know that i would not be safe from it even in NYC where it is now complete lifestyle packaging. the people who mourn the loss of starbucks never lived in a real city when they grew up. all they know is the chain stores of the mall that spawned them.

[MEK]

I think there are more Dunkin Donuts around than Starbucks but they don't bring attention to themselves. They got better coffee, too.

[ken]

coffee is bitter and burnt, cakes are soft and basically raw. And why pay $3 for anthing caffeine related? Crap, I will settle for a deli cup of $95 java any day.

[Ed]

The reason all those Starbucks opened in the first place was to drive the independent coffee shops out of business. Once they secured a monopoly, of course they closed their underperforming shops. I think its a terrible business model even from the standpoint of making money, but that doesn't mean that its not tried from time to time.

There really should have been an anti-trust investigation of the company. I'm pretty happy about the closings, since its a chance to replace some bland stores selling bad coffee with something more useful. Maybe we will get some independent places again someday.

The original stores in Seattle were actually pretty good, so this is also a lesson in the problems of a good local chain going national.

[JamesSF]

Tower did the same thing to small record shops, underprice & displace them, but then even it went out of business. Ah, the fickle nature of capital.

If you're in a small town, in the San Joaquin Valley or the midwest, the presence of a Starbucks is ok. Especially in the afternoon when the breakfast and lunch counters are closed or else whatever coffee is left is "done cooked" by then.

But aren't frappacinos and such drinks really milkshakes? Real coffee is coffee or espresso or a morning caffe late. Starbucks, it would seem, is really the malt shop of Lana Turner and Mickey Rooney days reissued.

[JamesSF]

Tower did the same thing to small record shops, underprice & displace them, but then even it went out of business. Ah, the fickle nature of capital.

If you're in a small town, in the San Joaquin Valley or the midwest, the presence of a Starbucks is ok. Especially in the afternoon when the breakfast and lunch counters are closed or else whatever coffee is left is "done cooked" by then.

But aren't frappacinos and such drinks really milkshakes? Real coffee is coffee or espresso or a morning caffe late. Starbucks, it would seem, is really the malt shop of Lana Turner and Mickey Rooney days reissued.

[Steve]

Let me tell you why Starbucks succeeded in achieving such a level of ubiquity: If you're a coffee lover, there is nothing worse than going into an unknown coffee house or deli, buying a coffee and having it SUCK. With Starbucks, you're at least guaranteed a strong, if slightly overroasted, cup of decent coffee. It eliminates the guesswork. Yes, it also eliminates the mom & pops, but sometimes they deserved to be eliminated.

[MEK]

In the year 3000, Starbucks will have gone the way of the McDLT. Noone will remember that much about them.

[Susan]

You are just swinging at any easy target - yes, there re too many shops, but man of those indie places really really sucked. I had some really horrid coffee that wasn't worth the nickle or whatever back in the day. Better a starbucks that has a function for everyone than more condos or little shops selling $50. t shirts. Or god forbid another freakin cupcake place.

The falt really lies with last two mayors who let corporations gut NY - starbucks just sold them their lattes. Sex and the City didn't help either. I left NYC in 1995 and everytime I come back to visit family the place just breaks my heart.

[Susan]

Sorry about the spelling there - this keyboard really blows (keys stick).