...but oddly enough they don't seem to ever close their stores. Even when they've completely taken over an area, they just keep expanding more and more. (shudder)
I guess they think it's worth it to prevent a coffee shop from opening in the newly vacant space.
that's not it. there was a big report that came out last year, actually, that seemed to suggest that the presence of a Starbucks actually helped local coffeeshops. most places that feared going out of business have actually reported a slight upsurge. the theory is that widespread availability of Starbucks creates a culture of coffee consumers, who then patronize other places as well as SBUX.
anyway, the reason they're all over isn't about competition, it's about distribution. Coke understands this, and that's why it consistently whoops Pepsi. you can spend all the money on Super Bowl ads that you want, but the best way to make sure that the customer picks your product is to always make sure that it's Right There In Their Face All The Freaking Time. Starbucks will continue to do well as long as you never, ever have to go out of your way to find one.
oh, but, anyway, i used to be very anti-Starbucks, until i started noticing that they were generally much better places to work than most jobs at their rung. in general, most of my friends who are in college or just out of college have found that Starbucks is by far the most attractive job option, since they pay reasonably well, have an outstanding benefits package for jobs at that level, and are much more mellow about schmoozing customers to buy shit than any retail place i've ever seen. the schedule issue kind of sucks, but they are retail, and that's pretty much par for the course in retail and food service.
on some day-to-day level, you kind of have to approach this as a realist, and stop asking "are they a worse place to work than they ideally could be, in some socialist/anarchist/take-your-pick fantasy world?", but rather "are they a better place to work than virtually all of their competitors?" |
