The commoditization of the Starbucks experience - and what's being done about it

by Nicole Weston, Posted Feb 26th 2007 @ 4:31PM

Earlier this month, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wrote a company memo that expressed concern over what he termed the "Commoditization of the Starbucks Experience." StarbucksGossip.com first posted the memo online and its authenticity was later confirmed by Starbucks, then picked up by more traditional media outlets.

The memo basically said that because of the rapid and wide-reaching expansion of the company, as well as the desire to do so quickly and efficiently, there has been a "watering down of the Starbucks experience." For example, switching to automatic espresso machines removed "much of the romance and theater that was in play with the use of the La Marzocca machines (the manual machines the stores used to have)." Another issue Schultz had was with the store designs, which have become too standard, too sterile and, in some cases, too distanced from actual coffee.

Speed and quality are important to any food service business, but not at the expense of experience of the customers' enjoyment and Shultz is proposing that they start making some changes to recapture that coffee shop experience that Starbucks first offered. There won't be a full-scale reversal in company strategy in pursuit of this goal. Instead, changes will be implemented gradually to move the stores away from the cookie-cutter, fast food chain genre while still chasing a larger global presence. Examples of this include having baristas measure out freshly roasted coffee beans, rather than having them in prepackaged bags, and changing the merchandise to have more coffee-centric merchandise, like grinders and brewers, instead of stuffed animals.

The changes planned for now seem small, but getting the aroma of freshly roasted beans back into the stores is a step in the right direction.

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Filed Under: Business, On the Blogs, Did you know?, Drink Recipes, Coffee Shops
Tags: barista, business, chain, coffee, coffee shops, did you know, espresso, gossip, memo, online, starbucks

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-26-2007 @7:44PM Janis said... I am a huge Starbucks fan and will welcome these & ongoing changes.
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2-26-2007 @11:04PM malarkey said... "The memo basically said that because of the rapid and wide-reaching expansion of the company..there has been a "watering down of the Starbucks experience."

well, duh.

"For example, switching to automatic espresso machines removed "much of the romance and theater that was in play with the use of the La Marzocca machines (the manual machines the stores used to have)." Another issue Schultz had was with the store designs, which have become too standard, too sterile and, in some cases, too distanced from actual coffee."

Isn't it a little late for him to be crying wolf in this way? They are the McDonald's of the coffee world. Sameness the world over has always been their mantra. They've NEVER hired truly skilled baristas, and they can't seem to keep them if they do.

"...Shultz is proposing that they start making some changes to recapture that coffee shop experience that Starbucks first offered. There won't be a full-scale reversal in company strategy in pursuit of this goal. Instead, changes will be implemented gradually to move the stores away from the cookie-cutter, fast food chain genre while still chasing a larger global presence."

uh, yeah. IMO, they can't do it. They will never return to what they were back in 1985. That kind of thing can't be replicated on a world wide scale.

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2-27-2007 @11:44AM jamus said... 1985? Just the early 90's could satisfy what Howard is looking for.

As someone who opened a number of stores in the Seattle/Tacoma area from '89-'92 (pre "bean stock"), I remember that back then we were already complaining about quality control, but it still felt like a huge family that was dedicated to its customers, partners (employees) and the highest levels of customer service.

While the purist side of me wretched when I first saw the Aroma (automatic) machines show up in the airport kiosks, I understood the desire to provide the experience to as many people as possible. I still don't know if the Aroma's are up to the La Marzocco standards - my La San Marco probably won't brew for me even saying that - but the two things Howard mentioned will go a long way to recapturing some of the "romance" from the early days.

I look forward to it.
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2-27-2007 @3:08PM seoulman said... Allright, I'm a coffee noob and I don't go to starbucks very often, what's the difference between an automatic machine? I was recently in Turkey and they used these horrible Nescafe machines (Want an espresso, push button a, cafe au lait button b, turkish tea button c) all the while a beautiful looking Lavazza (not totally sure of the brand) machines just sat there as a place to hold the cups. Are these automatic machines not even using grounds? What is the machines name so I could look it up on google? Thanks
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2-27-2007 @7:14PM duckzero said... Yeah, I work at starbucks, and i know that if we change too much, i'm quite sure some customers will start moving to the Tully's across the street. Most of the customers do not want an experience like the early 90's, they want an experience that's like now, where they go in and out with little talk and a quick cup of decent coffee.
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