Starbucks in stealth mode: Just add beer
Filed under: Company News
On the front of the store will be an understated, inconsequential name: 15th Avenue Coffee & Tea. Just like most of the hyper-local coffee shops, it will sell a variety of its own brand of coffee drinks and premium teas, as well as wine and beer. Being named after the street on which it's located? Gives it a "community personality," says one of its managers. In the location, which used to be a Starbucks (SBUX), a rustic-orange background with a blackboard-style sign announces, "YOUR neighborhood coffee shop is getting a makeover."Power to the independents? Down with big corporate McSame coffee? Ummm, not so much. Starbucks is going stealth. It's taking down its branding in this Seattle store in the Capital Hill neighborhood and replacing it with a new concept that will also be unveiled in two other new and yet-to-be-named Seattle-area locations: which can be described as Starbucks Stealth (just add beer).
Most troubling, however, is how the chain came up with its concept, says the Seattle Times: by endlessly studying its new competition. According to the owner of Seattle Coffee Works at Pike Place Market, a large group of Starbucks employees visited several times, crowding into his tiny store. "Just looking." He finally got fed up and called Starbucks PR. Another small coffee shop nearby , Victrola Coffee Roasters, never called off the Starbucks reps, who visited many times with folders marked "Observation." (Cue the music from Gattaca.)
In the Pacific Northwest, there are two sorts of successful coffee shops: the ubiquitous chains like Peet's and Starbucks where loyal, wide-eyed fans flock to get a "predictable" treat (and often, for the association with their perception of a popular brand); and the other kind, the one this new Starbucks venture is trying to be, where customers who reject corporate sameness and value truly great coffee drinks geek out, proudly greeting the owners by name and knowing the baristas by the music playing over the sound system. There's a sense of place; there's usually a lot of quirks and inconsistencies; customers get indy street cred because they're voting with their dollar against big corporations.
Bring a big corporation into the mix with local-sounding names, corporate spies, and field trips to real live independent coffee shops and put on a black t-shirt with "I'm authentic!" in bold letters? It feels inauthentic to make fun of that. It's just too obvious and easy.
I can't predict, though, that this will play well at poetry readings and in the makeshift patios at local, truly independent coffee shops around the Pacific Northwest. Whether it will play well with consumers here in Portland and Seattle is doubtful; although (and I hate to say this) I can imagine it doing very well in the country's middle.
And now, off to drink some Stumptown Coffee (sounds good, hmmm, Starbucks? But sorry! The name's already taken).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
7-16-2009 @ 6:18PM
Pariah Burke said...
Wonderful! Starschmucks will now dupe people into supporting its evil empire of trendier-than-thou exclusivity and bitter, overpriced coffee. If any other corporate chain pulled this stunt, masquerading as a mom and pop business, the public would be up in arms. But, because it's Starschmucks, a de rigueur brand with which so many lemmings wants to associate and through association elevate their own sense of self, the public will let it slide and perhaps even applaud the "stealth" marketing initiative.
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7-16-2009 @ 8:49PM
JMO said...
Bravo-could not say it any better! Bitter coffee with an alien language menu and a snooty staff-lol,
7-18-2009 @ 5:34PM
bailoutsos said...
Coffee just don't cut it anymore.
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7-16-2009 @ 7:45PM
steve said...
ya and they will charge $5 fo an 8oz glass. starbucks are way to overated and not right for this economy.
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7-16-2009 @ 7:51PM
Pam said...
Good luck getting the beer or liquor licenses needed from the communities you wish to invade. They will be a hard sell........beer or wine sold at a coffee shop? .....ya right.
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7-16-2009 @ 8:50PM
Jonathan said...
Y not? If you can sell beer and wine at a gas station, why not a coffee shop? Sounds like a good idea, if not too high priced as some have suggested it would be.
7-16-2009 @ 8:46PM
JMO said...
Pam- FYI, A coffee Shop that has tables is classified as a restaurant. So beer and wine licenses are available unless it is a dry county in that area. Some cities will require anyone under 21 must be accompanied by an adult. Sale to a minor- server is subject to arrest. No issue as far as i can see?
7-16-2009 @ 8:41PM
mardy said...
Hell, now you can have your ALL day business meetings at Buckys. The hot and get ya goin' and afternoons the cold and get ya gone. What a concept.
Wonder if they'll have nachos.
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7-16-2009 @ 8:39PM
mardy said...
Hell, great spot for an all day meeting now. Hot that'll get ya going in the am. Cold that'll get ya gone in the pm.
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7-17-2009 @ 1:22AM
Liz said...
I agree with you but I like the idea of the choice of having a cold one with friends in the afternoon. Our Starbucks is an afternoon meeting place for so many people.
The option would be one I would support
7-16-2009 @ 8:41PM
richard said...
have you heard of titatanic
byby starbucks antiamerican company anyway
they love the green back and are antigun
what other negative place called heinz
sameclass just like this health care mess
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7-20-2009 @ 5:23PM
The Sarah said...
How can you call Starbucks anti-American? They are an American success story. Started off with one store and grew an empire at a time when coffee drinking was going down hill. Employees even part-time ones have stock options and healthy benefits. I am pretty sure most mom and pop places don't take care of employees like this.
7-16-2009 @ 8:49PM
Coffee Princess said...
Saxbys is the next BIG thing! They are Franchises popping up all over the US. Not only do they offer GREAT coffee at GREAT prices but the customer service is GREAT! There are Big screen tv's, fireplaces and also have opportunities for bands to play (most of them) Find a Saxbys near you and give them a try!!
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7-16-2009 @ 9:01PM
over it said...
This really smells like desparation. The downfall of Starbucks began with the comany biting off more than it could chew, then trying to compete with places whose coffee is not even in the same ballpark (aka Dunkin Donuts and McDonald's) just to make more money via food. Now it is stuck with those disgusting breakfast sandwiches and the coffee itself is just an afterthought, and Starbucks did it to itself. The automatic espresso machines also brought in a new sense of watered-downness. As a former employee, I have seen first-hand many stalker-type oddball customers who I would never serve alcohol to. It will bring on a whole new set of problems. I think it is a bad idea and I have a hard time seeing people going to Starbucks for beer. Best of luck to the independent coffee shops in Seattle in squelching Starbucks' lame spy tactics. That is unethical, especially for a company that claims to still be ethical.
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7-16-2009 @ 9:11PM
Manny said...
Count me as one of the thousands in our community who will never step into our local Starbucks again if beer would be served. Sorry.
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7-16-2009 @ 9:34PM
Gerry said...
Guess what? McDonalds hamburgers suck. But they sell a great cup of coffee for fifty cents. Good bye Starbucks.
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7-16-2009 @ 9:54PM
BRADDAH BT said...
THAT IS A GOOD IDEA GET UM DRUNK AND GET UM SOBER
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7-16-2009 @ 10:42PM
Bob said...
Just what we need... WIDE AWAKE DRUNKS!!!! LOL!
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7-16-2009 @ 10:46PM
Ralph Roark said...
Heineken rules the lagers!
Guiness rules the stouts!
But, the best beer in the world is the brand in the glass in front of you!
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7-16-2009 @ 11:10PM
V said...
Uh, I think everyone should watch what they say about Starbucks...they're probably reading this too...
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