Advertizing Blitz-Krieg

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

So Starbucks is not :gasp: growing as fast anymore! Holy mackerel! We've ceased to defy the laws of economics.
So what does corporate do? Advertise the sh*t out of the company. I spent about an hour wandering around the mall giving out samples and fliers.
Anyone seen the ads?

[Sibling Chatty]

Nope! No mall!

Starbucks needs to look to its core market. McDonald's is about to force all franchises to add premium coffee drinks, basically the Starbuck's type drink menu, and they're said to be equally tasty, if not moreso.

True, the McD's owners are fighting it, but...McD's doesn't get the basics of economics, either--just like the rest of the greedhead US and company.

There cannot be infinite growth. Something eventually happens, usually painful, to end it.

Just what the US needs...more designer coffee drinks.

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

Hey, I make a living off designer drinks!

They should have been more careful about it. Grow a little more slowly.
Having one on every corner means they forced a lot of other solely coffee places out of business, but they can't force Mickey D's out.
I doubt the advertising will do anything.

[Sibling Chatty]

Thursday while we were in Houston, we went through the intersection in the Galleria that used to have a Starbuck's on 3 out of four corners.

It now has one. One of them's a bank, the other one's a juice bar. The one with the 300 seats and the 'high speed' drive through is still a Starbuck's.

And the 800 seat 3 story McDonalds is gone...

[Griffin NoName]

This making me nostalgic. Paris had a Wimpey Bar before we did.

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

Geez.


What's a Wimpey Bar?

[Griffin NoName]

Ehem.... slight adjustment of history in my brain...... for one I mispelt it.....

Wimpy Bar

And for two, the first Wimpy Bar I ever went to was in Paris.

They were of course all over London by that time but my parents wouldn't let me go to them. Dens of Satan. Hamburgers (beef of course) were Bad Food, and besides that there were frequented by undersirable people. But I did a French Exchange and went to Paris.....

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

I see.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

There used to be a Wimpy at a walking distance from my parents house in Bogotá way before Burger King arrived to Colombia. I loved their banana splits in those days.

[beagle]

And for two, the first Wimpy Bar I ever went to was in Paris.

They were of course all over London by that time but my parents wouldn't let me go to them.

Mine let me go, and to "The Golden Egg" and "Little Chef".  They were more upset about the Red Lion (I was tall for my age).

... and besides that there were frequented by undersirable people.

I resemble that statement.

But I did a French Exchange and went to Paris.....

So, a Michelin star and they were prepared to overlook the dodgy people? Or you gave your chaperone the slip? You modern gels...

I loved their banana splits in those days.

Me too. Perhaps there's a causal link between banana splits and lapsed Pastafarianism.

So Starbucks is not :gasp: growing as fast anymore! Holy mackerel! We've ceased to defy the laws of economics.

That happens a lot.  You get big growth for a long period and the price/earnings ratio on the stock soars as people factor in perpetual growth at 30% or whatever. Then if the growth is actually 28% there's a huge overreaction and sell-off.

You'll notice the smart companies (Like Microsoft) always talk down future expectations rather than boasting about how well they're going to do next quarter. "Yeah we made $34bn this year, but next year the shorter monsoon season is really going to clobber us".

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

Ya, know, I'd have thought they'd have thought of that.

We must be doing worse than I thought--I spent most of my shift sampling stuff out at the mall again, and we're having an actual sale (if I have to say, "we're having a 20% off sale today on all whole-bean and merchandise!" again, I'll kill myself) , and they gave me precious non-coverage hours (I don't have to be serving customers) to do it!

[beagle]

Do sales work with coffee? I'd have thought you either want a drink or not, and by the time you're close enough to see the price you've made up your mind.

Mind you, my knowledge of coffee is a bit limited. Where the youngsters'  order of coffee consists of one noun and thirty-eight adjectives I only know the types "black" or "white".

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

It's a hard thing to sell, to be honest. I'm pretty good at sales, and I usually do better, but coffee's difficult to sell. So are mugs and coffee pots and grinders. (drinks are a whole different matter)
Really, unless you're already in the market for a pot or something, why would you buy one? They ain't cheap, even at 20% off, ($100-->$80) and who really needs a fancy grinder?
Beans are a little easier. Why not splurge a little on some kick-ass coffee?


Rofl, it gets easier once you understand that asking for a  black eye is not asking to be punched. (They just want two shots of espresso in their coffee.)

[beagle]

The builders' merchants near where I work also do kitchen stuff. They had a Swiss domestic coffee machine for £1000 (about $2000).  I nearly fainted. It wasn't even that solid looking, with grey plastic buttons and stuff.

My domestic machine cost nearer $30, and only ever gets to see Douwe Egberts or Sandringham Blend; nothing exotic.

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

Rofl, mine was a free one from Gevalia.
I get markouts, so mine is currently brewing sumatra and Christmas blend.

Not that I can tell the difference from one to the other with taste.