Starbucks: The Empire Strikes Back

yes, yes, yes (ever heard of parapelegics?? Don't make fun, nabisco), not covered in mildew.

My god I'd so go to a Starbucks that had Hanle y behind the counter causing trouble.
-- Nick (nickdastoo...), September 7th, 2001.

Agreed. It's certainly better than Deli coffee and for a quick cup of coffee in NYC those are often your only two options.

back in the pre-starbucks day, i liked dunkin donuts and wawa cafe. NYC dunkin donuts coffee is OK, and they don't have wawas in NYC. :-(

Astoria.

"Only" was an exageration, but unless you're downtown if you want a cup of coffee without having to walk for 20 minutes those are pretty much your only choices. I need instant gratification when it comes to coffee, though, so maybe this is just a case of me being really lazy.

Haha, on a related note: Blimpie! I don't think I've ever actually eaten anything from a Blimpie, but they have the crappest spots I've ever seen -- they invariably look so old and horrible and low-rent, and half the time there's a nice clean Subway two doors down.

xpost

The Blimpie right off of Union Sq. is one of the most depressing places in the city.

Some delis have good coffee - I think you can usually tell by taking a quick peak behind the counter - do you see a grinder? Does their equipment look clean and well-maintained? Can you spot any bags, cans or other evidence of coffee brands you like or don't like?

Yes. SF is pretty consistent everywhere, but quality goes up as you go NW. One of the best cups of coffee I've ever had came from a broken down gas station in the Eastern WA wastelands.

Stanley Fish is confused by Starbucks.

Stanley Fish is my university's "professor at large"!

I should also point out that Fish may be referring to the two Starbucks on campus, which are, indeed, pretty appalling.

Ha, I never knew that's where he ended up! He was at UIC for a while; a friend of mine audited a class of his.

I'd have liked it better if the article was about Starbucks as an interpretive community. I'd have thought that putting the onus on the consumer to dress up his or her own coffee would have interested him in the same way as reader-response criticism.

That's probably a class project.

oh no!

http://www.slate.com/id/2180301/nav/tap3/

let's be honest, we're talking about drugs here

drugs that i need very badly right now

Orange County, Calif., coffeehouse owner Martin Diedrich started hyperventilating when he first heard a Starbucks was opening "within a stone's throw" of his cafe, yet he reported similar results: "I didn't suffer whatsoever. Ultimately I prospered, in no small part because of it."

Okay, this is WAY disengenuous on his part; then again I think he's trying to put the past fifteen years all behind him. (First he ended up allied with the PepsiCo/Taco Bell empire for leverage, then all the assets of Diedrich got sold to Starbucks anyway and the entire chain is almost nothing now.) On the bright side he landed on his feet and has restarted with Kéan Coffee but even so.

It's entirely possible that he's talking strictly about a Starbucks opening near Kéan! (Which is true, having just been in the area yesterday.) I suppose you have to look at any bright side you can.

They consolidated me and the boyfriend's two $5 gift cards so we could buy $8 worth of coffee and they returned a giftcard with $38 on it. Coffee coffee coffee free coffee.

awesome

i have been admiring the return to the original brand

ouch:

SEE ALSO
Starbucks reports falling profits
30 Apr 08 | Business
Starbucks hit by housing slowdown
24 Apr 08 | Business
Starbucks turns to customer ideas
09 Apr 08 | Business
Starbucks must pay $100m in tips
21 Mar 08 | Americas
Starbucks in temporary US closure
26 Feb 08 | Americas
Starbucks announces HQ job cuts
22 Feb 08 | Business
Why Starbucks' sales have gone cold
01 Feb 08 | Business

There isn't a corporate logo in the world that can't be improved by asking "WHERE THE TITTIES AT???"

Predicition: Starbucks new marketing push is not going to turn them around.