July 28th, 2009 | Author: admin
According to an article that appeared in the The New Times, distributed by All Africa Media, Starbucks is to start selling Rwandan textiles and baskets in its stores this summer.
It appears that a deal was signed recently with L’Usine Textile du Rwanda (Utexrwa) by Howard Schultz during his visit to Rwanda in June this year (looks like the Gulfstream is getting some use!). According to the report, a Starbucks office was also opened, the first on the continent.
Link to article: http://allafrica.com/stories/200907280025.html
TEXTILES!!!!! What ever next – kitchen and bathroom accessories!!!!!
July 20th, 2009 | Author: admin
Starbucks continues to pat its self on the back for changing its food offerings to items that are “healthier”. However, what they fail to do is make it clear to customers just what they are getting for their money as nutritional information is not readily available to the paying customer.
June 26th, 2009 | Author: admin
A message to Seattle – if you really want to implrove business, take a look at this and take note! No prizes for guessing who the Penguins are. Every DM and above should also take serious note of the message – but then again many won’t – as they say:
“there are none so blind as those who will not see”
May 25th, 2009 | Author: admin
Why do Starbucks flaunt labor laws?
Why do Starbucks have so many law suits against them by former managers due to violations of the “exempt” status as defined by the NLRB?
If Starbucks is fair to its employees and treats them with “respect & dignity”, why have the National Labor Relation Board SLAPPED them repeatedly?
It will be interesting to see when the economy shows real signs of picking up, just how many employees will “vote” with their feet and walk off into other jobs.
Starbucks has a serious internal problem with its management structure and managerial style that stockholders need to seriously question!
May 11th, 2009 | Author: admin
Following the month long Starbucks Poll on this site the results are:
Question – “Do you think Starbucks has lost its way?”
YES definitely 88%
Somewhat 6%
Not really 6%
No 0%
There seems to be an overwhelming consensus that Starbucks HAS LOST ITS WAY.
Apart from the poll, further evidence seems to be indicated by the 77% decline in profits stated in their Q2 results. Many Stock analysts have also issued downgrades and sell recommendations for Starbucks stock. The only upbeat recommendation came from on analyst who’s firm is a market maker in the stock, so it is not unreasonable to assume they were just trying to drum up some business activtity.
Although there has been movement on the share price, most of this just inline with general market movement, nothing suggests optimism or reasons to buy.
Rumors on other blog sites seem to indicate that Starbucks could find itself a takeover target. Maybe a hostile bid is what is needed to shake the company out of its “we’re Starbucks so we must be right” fog and take a hard look at the reality – Starbucks has many serious internal issues and needs to shake up both staff and policies.
April 7th, 2009 | Author: admin
Give us your opinion – Do YOU think Starbucks has lost its way?
Complete the quickie poll over on the right and tell us what you think. You can also add comments to this post if you wish. We hope you do, as it will give us a further insight to what people think and feel, staff and customers alike.
April 7th, 2009 | Author: admin
- Coupon that appeared in a local newspaper
It would seem that there some very upset people in the SW Florida area.
We were recently emailed a copy of a coupon that appeared in a local newspaper by an irate customer who tried to use it at a store other than the one shown on the coupon and was basically told to get lost – the coupon was unauthorized and therefore not valid. So much for the “say yes” policy.
February 12th, 2009 | Author: admin
Starbucks Annual Meeting – March 18, 2009 – Seattle
Starbucks will hold its annual stockholders meeting in Seattle next month. Among the items they are asking stockholders to vote on is the increasing of the board size from its current 9 members to 11. When you look at the agenda and statement for the annual meeting, and then take into account the current economic climate and the claims made by Starbucks to effectively “trim costs”, a few things don’t quite seem to add up.
In an open statement to ALL Starbucks stockholders, take a close look at the Meeting Statement and see if you have better answers to the questions we raise here.
February 11th, 2009 | Author: admin
Starbucks – the place everyone loves (or so they say) needs to change several things if it is to stand a chance of survival in the ever declining economic climate.
One key change needed is the doctrine of “give the customer what ever they ask for”. In pure customer service terms it’s reasonable, but store managers need to be empowered to “manage” there stores especially as they are expected to achieve targets that were reasonable in the good times but are outrageous in this climate, when they know that customers are blatantly scamming the store’s bottom line.