Anyone hooked on Starbuck's or other local or national-chain coffee shops? How about countries outside of the U.S.? I'm sure there are some great coffee places where you live?

I got hooked on latte's a long time ago, then switched to iced mochas, then in Pikes Place Market in Seattle at what I'm pretty sure was the original Starbuck's, we tried an item on the menu there called a mocha velentia (sp?) and have been hooked on that for a long time now (it's a mocha with orange flavoring). Only now I'm hooked on "iced mocha valencia's. Then comes the Starbuck's Frappacinos that can be purchased in the bottle at the grocery store and we got hooked even more.

Now I'm tired of the Frappacinos and weaned myself off of those, but still have to get the Mocha Valencias (sorry if I didn't spell it right) about 2-3 times a week! It makes a person go broke. I heard if one invested what they spent on these places, they'd be doing really good.

Anyone else hooked on Starbuck's or other places that sell coffee, latte's, espresso, etc.?

Every day at 11:30 my colleague and I go to the campus Starbucks. My addiction is nonfat chai lattes. Though I did get sidetracked by the green tea frappucinos they offered last summer.

I added it up, and I spend more at Starbucks over the course of a year than I received as my yearly raise last year. So either they're expensive or I'm underpaid, or a little of both.

Starbucks is, in my opinion, grossly overpriced. So is every bar that sells drinks. Therefore my motto is: Don't be intoxicated in public. Stay home and drink! And that goes for coffee, too.

I wouldn't say that I'm hooked, but I enjoy Costa coffee over here in the UK. Plain black -americano / espresso. Never actually had a Starbucks coffee although I've walked past many times.

At the end of the day, I think ChatNoir has a point: my favourite cup has to be Havana Gold, freshly brewed and black and made at home. 20 cups for around $7

Save your Starbucks money and buy yourself a nice espresso maker with a milk steamer to make your own cappuccinos etc. After an initial investment you have an unlimited supply of customized gourmet caffeine on tap relatively cheaply.

I've done that too. It's not as good though, .

Warning - warning - I'm about to rant!

I love coffee as much as anyone.

But haven't you guys encountered any negative publicity re: Starbucks?

Ever??

Starbucks sprout like weeds and choke all the the mom & pop style coffee houses. There used to be so [/b]many really cool places here where I live.

In case you haven't noticed, all of the unique bookstores, pharmacies, CD stores, hardware stores, etc. are vanishing - replaced by giant corporations pretending to be small local shops.

The result of this is a lack of diversity - a numbing sameness of products across the globe.

I will go out of my way to patronize a non-chain store - knowing that it is probably futile in the end.

Here is a blurb on Starbucks. This is just one of many websites about Starbucks - this one says just enough.

Sorry - I really don't like to be such a "downer" on such a nice thread!

but... this is a sore spot with me! :rolleyes:

PS: If I don't ever post another thing here, you will know THEY have come for me in the middle of the night!

Was just reading your 'blurb' page and decided to check out the Nutritional Information.

According to the Starbucks homepage, an extra-large white hot chocolate with breve milk has the total of:

1070 calories

(i'm sure thats the equivalent of 2 big macs, but i cant be sure).

But as I said before, I'm not a customer there.

Whippen Boy: you ever read 'No Logo' by Naomi Klein? - plenty of Starbuck-bashing in there!

1070 calories?!?

You've got to be kidding!

Thanks for the tip on the book - will look for that. (As if I needed anything else to inflame my ardent indignation!)

PS: oh yeah, THEY haven't come for me quite yet.

Its quite a well-known book at the moment - it looks at the ideas of branding and globalisation. It quite controversial - lots of fans as well as critics. If it's just info on Starbucks, your library might be the best bet. However, if you are interested in reading about the big MNC's and their tactics, its a good read. There is a good section on Starbucks' policy of 'clustering and cannibalizing' their own stores!

To quote a section (on brand image):

" Scott Bedbury, Starbucks' vice president of marketing, openly recognised that " consumers don't truly believe there's a huge difference between products[/b] ," which is why brands must " establish emotional ties[/b] " with their customers through the " Starbucks Experience[/b] ." The people who line up for Starbucks, writes CEO Howard Shultz, aren't just there for the coffee. " It's the romance of the coffee experience, the feeling of warmth and community people get in Starbuck's stores. With Starbucks, we see how coffee has woven itself into the fabric of people's lives, and that's our opportunity for emotional leverage... it adds a greater sense of purpose to the experience, whether it's the challenge to do your best in sports and fitness or the affirmation that the cup of coffee you're drinking really matters[/b] ."
{Bedbury, Shultz (1997) in Klien, 2005}

I thought it was just a shop that sold coffee

[Is it illegal to write sections of books onto a website - am I violating any copyright laws? If so, I may bump into you, whippen boy, when i get taken as well!]

I see you are a Simpsons fan.



I love that episode where they are walking through the shopping mall and every single store is a Starbucks!

whippen boy,

I do agree with you on the fact that it is sad that the local, small business places become obsolete when a business like Starbuck's "takes over" in town. There were a lot of wonderful elite little coffee places around that have closed. Many were closing before Starbuck's came, but Starbuck's coming has pushed a few more over the edge but business was slow at those places prior.

One thing is the Starbuck's makes a consistently good coffee drink almost every time while many of the mom and pop places where hit and miss whether it was going to taste terrible or not. I did however, frequent the local places just as much or more than Starbuck's so I did give them all an equal share of my business. I do miss a couple places, one of which was on the historic street of town by the state college campus in a neat old house and served great lunches and desserts. They left after another coffee chain came to town, then that coffee chain left after Starbuck's came but both were wavering on a shortage of business already. I think the drive up makes a difference too.

I do feel that unless people start making demands and standing up for these "other products" that aren't the "main stream", we are fighting a losing battle. Everyone is about saving money more so than where it's coming from and we are kind of all "stuck" in that regard. I'm thinking primarly for example, only being able to afford Wal-mart or low line end of clothing at Sears, etc. so I'm "stuck" in not being able to support the other "small shops".

If one is going to boycott Starbuck's, then one is going to have to boycott Wal-mart, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Barnes and Nobles, Walgreens, buying music on the internet, etc., - all of which "stamp out" small local businesses to where they sadly don't exist anymore.

I will give you credit for making what was turning out to be an otherwise mundane thread into something of more interest to discuss. I won't send the mob squad after you - !

oops!

I've been reading Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat" book (I assigned it in my freshman honor's class), and it has a lot to say about the pros and cons of globalization and the Wal-Martization of the world. He doesn't mention Starbucks specifically (yet; I'm only halfway through the book), but much of what he says is relevant. One of his major points is that the homogenization that many people decry (e.g., when smaller places are replaced by Starbucks, everybody uses Windows instead of other operating systems, etc.) actually has important advantages that we don't recognize in addition to the disadvantages that whippen boy has pointed out, primarily by creating standardization and "interoperability" that allows people all over the world to communicate and work on different pieces of a project.

Anyway, it's an intriguing point and excellent book. Well worth reading over a grande nonfat chai.

Euan: If you tell me how many calories are in a grande nonfat chai, I will hunt you down and throttle you myself. Ignorance is truly bliss in certain contexts!

I remember seeing a program about how biodiversity is critical for the planet. Very interesting.

Of course, coffee shops are not quite the same, but I do see a connection there somewhere.

I'm drinking my French-pressed, Organic, Fair Trade, Shade Grown coffee from a socially responsible coffee roasting operation.

Can you tell I'm from Berkeley! :p

I figured that out when you started talking about pianos having souls over in the Renner thread... :p

Starbucks and other coffee chains don't know how to make a real iced coffee.... they all suck. Theres supposed to be icecream and whipped cream in there people, not just crushed ice!!!!

Not a fan. In Australia Gloria Jeans is bigger anyway, they are popping up everywhere. Lucky for me I live in the stix in north NSW where we have NO fast food, NO chain stores at all, No Maccas, Myers, KFC... etc.Its a great money saver and the coffee store up here rocks!

Sarabande, I wouldn't say that you "have to" boycott all other large chains. But I do indeed always favor a small local chain over a large national chain. I favor an individual store over any chain at all. And avoid buying over the internet at all costs.

When you buy at a local store, you're employing local labor, you're helping the tax base for your city, you're helping to support your community. And ideally you're encouraging good personal service.

I stand with you, Whippen Boy! Us against the world!

I'll admit, though, I've been taken to Starbucks three or four times, and I must say I've enjoyed the conconctions.