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Do you depend on Starbucks for survival? Do you need an afternoon pick me up to make it through the rest of the day? Well, on February 26th you'll need to time your visit a little more carefully than normal. On the 26th, the coffee giant will close all North American stores for three hours, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The purpose of the closing is for the retraining of the barristas. The company is implementing new standards, which they hope will provide a better experience for customers. The retraining is part of the corporations plan to stimulate growth and its brand. Sales have been lagging, and they need to turn things around.
The retraining effort goes along with other measures to get the company back on track. Starbucks plans on slowing US expansion, increasing overseas expansion, and offering some free wifi. Hopefully the shut down won't disrupt your routine too much and your experience should be much better the next time you stop into your local Starbucks.
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2-14-2008 @12:40PM Jon said... I think getting your drink order correct the first time should be at the top of that list. The two starbucks that I frequent in my area get my drink wrong about 75% of the time, even though it is listed correctly on the receipt at the time of order. I notice a strong correlation between that and a failure to record the drink order on the cup, instead relying on the computer display to tell them what to make.
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2-14-2008 @12:55PM Grammar freak said... Maybe you should simplify then, don't ask for a low fat double tall grande triple espresso venti venti free trade dildo latte with 4 shots of espresso with extra whip cream and caramel swirl and expect them to remember it.
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2-14-2008 @1:43PM Kearns said... No, they should get the drink correct. They have just gotten sloppy. Too many *$ employees don't call the drinks proper, or baristas reply proper. Too many cashiers have a hard time understanding the menu and don't write the cups up correct. The system isn't bad, just the employees got sloppy. Add on to that the crappy automatic machines and improperly trained baristas and it's no wonder people aren't flocking to *$ like they used to.
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2-14-2008 @1:59PM Adam Fields said... Why would they close all of them at the same time? Wouldn't it make more sense to stagger the closings, especially in places where there are multiple locations within easy walking distance?
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2-14-2008 @3:48PM Jason said... Come on people, it's all just marketing. The reason they are closing them all at the same time is so it will make the news and everyone will be compelled to visit the next couple of days to see how much better the "experience" is with the newly re-trained employees.
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2-14-2008 @5:53PM rockphiler said... In the bigger scope of things, I would venture to say that since you can now get a better-tasting, less-expensive cup of coffee (as well as special coffee drinks in some markets) at McDonalds, it's no wonder that Starbucks' sales are lagging. While Starbucks is making side-forays into the music recording industry, McDonalds is sticking to what they do best: selling a reasonably good product to the masses. It's no secret that McD's new Premium coffee has nearly doubled their own sales of coffee, and the test markets for McDonalds' coffee bar have proven that Starbucks is no longer the only game in town. I'm no fan of McDonalds, but they do sell a good cup of coffee.
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2-14-2008 @5:11PM Scott said... It would help if you could just order something without having to learn a new language. "Large" has a meaning in English which I find works when ordering from virtually everywhere else on Earth. I frankly avoid Starbucks because of the inanity of their "lingo".
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2-14-2008 @8:09PM Atiyah said... I hope this works for the barristas at the Washington DC Union station store. The drinks there are horrible!!!
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2-14-2008 @8:17PM Greg Sherwin said... Close them at staggered times??!
No, the best retraining they could do is to set the clock back to 1996 and close 96% their stores -- as in close PERMANENTLY -- and fire just as much of their staff. Should improve staff training standards and beverage quality immensely.
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2-14-2008 @9:25PM Mel said... I assume their lagging sales are due to general economic conditions - I find their coffee to be just as bad as always.
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2-15-2008 @6:41AM Red Icculus said... @ Grammar Freak
I haven't tried the free trade dildo latte. Is it frothy and delicious? :D
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2-15-2008 @10:49AM calamari said... The Starbucks nearest my work went through a phase of being unable to get orders like "grande iced tea, unsweet" right. I never ask for any changes to their standard drinks, and they were still mangling every order while bleating "It's only coffee!" when I got annoyed at having to ask for corrections.
Yes, it's only coffee, but SERVING COFFEE IS YOUR ENTIRE CORPORATE MISSION. So if your heart isn't in it, you're in the wrong business.
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2-27-2008 @1:54PM Emily said... Hello Everyone!
I would just like to take this time to point out that Barista is not spelled Barrista. Barista is the Italian word for "Coffee Artist." With that being said, I work at one of the busiest Starbucks Drivethru's in my area. Luckily I think that our store has some of the best employees, and all of us really do care about our customers. (I love bragging about our customers!) I would also like to point out (regarding to Scott) that because coffee is Italian, Starbucks felt that adding Tall, Grande, and Venti for our sizes would fit well. I would also like to point out that Starbucks is not the only coffee shop that does this, I know the coffee bar at Panera has a similar sizing system. But at any rate, if somebody would come in and order a Large Latte, we wouldn't be rude about correcting them if they were confused. I always just smile and say "oh we actually call it Venti so you want a Venti Latte?" and I've never had any problems. I know that some Barista's from other cities do act rudely and say "we actually don't have large." As regards to Calamari, I'm sorry about the experience you've had at your store! Apparently they aren't fulfilling their job at connecting with you and being enthusiastic about your drink! At our store, our promise is to make your drink especially for you, and if you don't like it, I always ask people to bring it back so we can make it according to their standards! Sometimes it is hard for me to connect with customers when their body language is telling me they are grumpy, but usually if I try striking up a conversation with them they are more chill. And if they don't, then oh well, at least I tried and maybe we can talk if they come in on another day when they are in a better mood! At least the person can't say that their Barista wasn't caring, genuine, and friendly!!!
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