Starbucks is having a problem with changing too much for the times. They were a coffee shop where they wanted people to go to spend time when not at home or at work. Think of any Friends episode or even Fraisier: a coffee shop was a place to sit and gather.
Then Starbucks started adding drive-thrus. Less time spent inside.
Then came mobile ordering through their app. Less time spent inside.
Less time spent interacting with customers. No more handwritten names (or messages) on your cup since it is all spit out from a machine. In order to keep up with more orders coming through the drive-thru and the apps, they streamlined the process…but made it less personal and less inviting in the meantime. And started selling more iced and cold drinks…which you don’t have to sit and wait for them to cool down as you drink them slowly. It’s grab and go.
They also changed the furniture.
Starbucks no longer has big comfy chairs – they are hard wooden ones. People come to sit silently and do work or use the bathroom. There was a culture shift for sure and Starbucks met it, but there are some detractors now and it’s being noticed. It is no longer a coffee shop but now more like a fast food stop.
Jerry Seinfeld had a bit where he said Starbucks should be called “Fourbucks” because that’s how much it cost (back then). What made Starbucks able to charge $4 then was their branding: it was an elevated experience. It’s just a transaction now. Even I noticed Starbucks was less inviting and I don't even drink coffee.
In the 90s and early 00s I would go to Starbucks to get tea tea or hot chocolate…but I saw it as an event. It was a break in my work day, a place to catch up with friends, and feel like I had a “fan club” (I frequented one very busy Starbucks on 42nd and Lexington often as a break from lawyering and they knew me by order, yelling it out when they saw me come in to get at the end of the long line, and either have my order ready for me by the time I got to the register or walk it over to me while I was still making my way through the line...for free). Who wouldn’t want to go to Starbucks?!?
I still see going to Starbucks as an event – I walk the 2 miles there from my house for exercise. I go maybe 1-2x a month to get some fancy oat milk matcha latte with some fancy schmancy foam on top. I like to sit there to enjoy my drink before walking back, but it is not as comfortable. The 2-miles-away location literally only has 4 chairs inside…not inviting, but the staff is phenomenal. A new closer location opened (only a 1 mile walk from home) and it has a hint of comfort in the space – I can choose to sit outside in chairs set up in the round, or the closest thing to cozy inside are chairs not attached to a table. Despite there being no other customers and 4 people working, none of them interacted with me at all. I did a mobile order through the app. It took over 10 minutes to be made despite there being no line and no other mobile orders waiting. Not inviting, not an experience. I sat outside before walking back home.
I had just read about this conundrum Starbucks is facing on one morning I went to the newer one. They were still having issues with the CrowdStrike fallout for their mobile ordering, so I went inside to order. No other customers in front of me or behind me. Minimal interaction with the cashier. I wanted to engage any of the 4 ladies chatting happily amongst themselves behind the counter to hear their thoughts on what I read that morning. I couldn’t find an on-ramp because I wasn't a customer, I was the thing that was picking up the drink being made.
But I did wind up staying to have my drink before going home. I was going to sit outside but I heard the start of The Arctic Monkey’s 505. Ah…they’re playing good music. At least this cold Starbucks has some warmth. Gosh, how the mighty have fallen - both Starbucks and my feeling like a rock star every time I walked into a special one by Grand Central in NYC.
The moral of the story – playing the numbers game is never a long-term win. Don’t become unrecognizable. Change with the times, update your wardrobe, but don’t get a full plastic surgery makeover. Starbucks once really appealed to a non-coffee drinker. I’m sure I’m not alone. Losing me and others is a cost of doing business the pivot-by-numbers way. Keeping your reputation is valuable, too.
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