they have finally realised that a Starbuck's on every corner is not necessarily the way to go.  They are paying severance, but there are a lot of jobs lost as a result of their falling stocks.
Too much too soon?
Probably.



Article:
For a decade it appeared there was no such thing as too many Starbucks for U.S. coffee drinkers, whose willingness to buy its $4 lattes and dark drip brews rationalized a second green-and-white mermaid awning just down the street — and sometimes even a third. But in a sign that those days are over, Starbucks Corp. announced Tuesday it will close 600 company-operated stores in the next year as the faltering U.S. economy hastened the pain caused by the company's own rapid expansion.

Starbucks shares, which have been falling steadily for nearly two years, jumped 72 cents, or 4.6 percent, in extended trading after the announcement. They had lost 12 cents to close Tuesday at $15.62.

Seattle-based Starbucks did not say which stores will be closed, only that they are spread throughout the country. But it did say 70 percent of those slated for closure had opened after the start of 2006.

To put it another way, Starbucks is closing 19 percent of all U.S. company-operated stores that opened in the last two years, Chief Financial Officer Pete Bocian said during a conference call.

About 12,000 workers, or 7 percent of Starbucks' global work force, will be affected by the closings, which are expected to take place between late July and the middle of 2009, spokeswoman Valerie O'Neil said.

O'Neil said most employees will be moved to nearby stores, but she did not know exactly how many jobs will be lost. Starbucks estimated $8 million in severance costs.

it's the end of the world as we know it! and i feel... a bit gassy, actually.

wonder if the same will happen with those Pret a Manger outlets, in the square mile of London City it seems there is one every 100 yards  ::) ::)  delicious sandwiches and hot chocolat tho'

my claim to fame is I was once offered the job of nanny and cook to the Pret main mans child a coupla years back (doing the work his bone idle 29 yr old German wife couldnt be arsed to do cos' she wanted to play with her horses all day long)

I don't care for Starbucks. the disney of coffee.
but where will soft rock idols sell their CDs?

and what will the residents of seattle do for work!

I don't care for Starbucks. the disney of coffee.
but where will soft rock idols sell their CDs?

and what will the residents of seattle do for work!


They won't because they suck.

They'll all move to Canadia and bring that down with the scooters, scarves, coffee house mentality and other Liberal scourges!

hey! scooters rule! you have to get one with a big engine, though.

oo! someone karma me. i'm coming up on 666. :o

Are they called shops now?

the scarf thing reminds me of this.

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/05/23/of-donuts-and-dumb-celebrities/

http://michellemalkin.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/1ddrr.jpg

dunkin donuts = scarf-wielding baby-killing jihadists! which is funny because dunkin donuts is totally like the working-man's starbucks cuz the coffee doesn't cost eight dollars. thus, winnnnnding my way back around to the topic at hand.

wonder if the same will happen with those Pret a Manger outlets, in the square mile of London City it seems there is one every 100 yards   ::) ::)  delicious sandwiches and hot chocolat tho'

my claim to fame is I was once offered the job of nanny and cook to the Pret main mans child a coupla years back (doing the work his bone idle 29 yr old German wife couldnt be arsed to do cos' she wanted to play with her horses all day long)
dont you cats also have like a ton of cosis? every time i see a starbucks in london i know there's a cosi right around the corner.

oo! someone karma me. i'm coming up on 666. :o
Ok, I guess I should as i have been smiting you a lot lately................

Ok, I guess I should as i have been smiting you a lot lately................
gis! say it ain't so!

i'll have you know i'm languishing in a city with an insufficient number of starbuckses! i cannot bear the additional suffering of being smited. :\'(

Where my sister does her banking,there's a bank and Starbucks all in one.It was originally just a bank. The cool part was that she could still use the banking part when she got out of work at 7 or 8 at night.

oo! someone karma me. i'm coming up on 666. :o


Well aren't you just pure evil.  Here have a frozen latte. :)

Where my sister does her banking,there's a bank and Starbucks all in one.It was originally just a bank. The cool part was that she could still use the banking part when she got out of work at 7 or 8 at night.


Yeah, that seems to be the thing now.  Combining coffee shops and banks.  The combination of money and caffeine, what a concept. ;D

Yeah, that seems to be the thing now.  Combining coffee shops and banks.  The combination of money and caffeine, what a concept. ;D


Not to mention combining it with everything else. The Target I used to work at remodeled after I left.  Guess what they added?  Guess what was across the parking lot from said Target?  Oi. ::)

There are also kiosks in most Safeway grocery stores in California.  The Safeway in Prunedale, CA has a kiosk.  Guess what is TWO DOORS DOWN from the Safeway? :P

I like coffee.  I'll admit to liking frapuccinos from Sixbucks.  But I am not going to cry if they shut 600 or all of them down.  There are other places to get coffee.  Like my kitchen.  Or (God, I hate admitting this) McDonalds.  They have good iced coffee.  Or the independent, organic hippie place down 53rd street.

Is the one on Garfield Heights going to close?

Because I have a friend and his wife that work there. (And the wife drives, wheras the husband dosen't. Is that common?)

There are too many other places out there now that offer virtually the same beverages that Starbucks offers, yet you can get them for like $2-$3 cheaper than Starbucks. We have a few stores around here that have awesome fraps (tastes just like Starbucks)...but I only pay like $2.50 for one. Maybe Starbucks should think about lowering their prices. ::)

They're kind of expensive anyway.

dont you cats also have like a ton of cosis? every time i see a starbucks in london i know there's a cosi right around the corner.


yeah it's those bleedin' costa crap coffee shops, used one once (only) at the train station cos' I wanted a hot drink in the wintertime and it was the absolute pits overpriced too. All this caffe latte.. grande.. mocha locka chocka garbage and skinny sh** drives me insane, and that's before we get onto the muffins the size of a human head! 
Whatever happened to a good old cup of ordinary coffee and a nice slice of cake for gawds sake??

Where my sister does her banking,there's a bank and Starbucks all in one.It was originally just a bank. The cool part was that she could still use the banking part when she got out of work at 7 or 8 at night.


they do that here too Ninny, the Abbey Building soc. (Bank) in Newcastle now have a starbucks in it, the rent they must be making off them must make it worth their while leasing out the space  ::)

There's a Starbucks or a Starbucks kiosk in practically every shopping center and strip mall where I live. A lot of them are pretty busy, but I've seen some that were pretty much dead.

Yeah, I heard about this on the news too. I wonder if this might be the end of the Starbucks craze that started in the late '90s? Remember that scene in Austin Powers 2, where Dr Evil's headquarters was inside of one? ;D The globalization was getting to where it seemed like that wasn't too far off, lol.

I personally like coffee and I go there sometimes (especially for stuff you can't get anywhere else, like Frapuccinos), but I think places like them, as well as Walmart and most fast food places are pervading too much. When corporations get too big, they start kicking out alot of the mom and pop stores. Not only does that endanger the individuality of towns in general, but it means there's less variety. Smaller stores tend to be more old-fashioned and inviting too.

Anyway I'm sure Starbucks will still be around and popular, but it'll just become a "standard" and not that notable or cool anymore.

Is it impossible to get a cup of coffee-flavored coffee? You can get every other flavor except coffee-flavored coffee! They got mochachino, cappuchino, frappachino, Al Pacino, what the fark? W-W-W-dot--whatthefark-dot-com!
  - Denis Leary, Lock and Load, ca. 1997

]Pvt. Joe Bowers: Man, I could really go for a Starbucks, y'know?
Frito: I don't really think we have time for a handjob, Joe.
  - From Mike Judge's Idiocracy, less than ten years later.

They put a kiosk in the V.A. hospital lobby that my hubby goes and the canteen (cafeteria) is just like steps away (and they sell coffee) as does the vending machines that are located behind the Starbucks kiosk. 

The bookstore I go to has a Starbucks and if you go across the parking lot, there is a full-sized Starbucks store  ::)  I was beginning to think maybe they genetically altered a coffee place with a pair of rabbits and that is why they were multiplying so fast!  ;)

All the big cities in the U.K are swamped with coffee places. I hate it, we have 8 in the centre of Oxford alone!?! The other mad thing is they all shut at 7pm. I don't get that at all.

they did it to themselves. there are two near me. one is nice and is always full.  the other is always empty and two boring kids work there.  i bet it closes.  that is not a morale builder.

All the big cities in the U.K are swamped with coffee places. I hate it, we have 8 in the centre of Oxford alone!?! The other mad thing is they all shut at 7pm. I don't get that at all.


YES!! there are several in Newcastle and that's before the 7 in the dept. stores  ::) and all the people swag about in those dumps acting like they've been able to afford to swig overpriced coffee all their sodding lives..makes me retch, what a pretentious bunch of tossers

cafe latte my arse

YES!! there are several in Newcastle and that's before the 7 in the dept. stores  ::) and all the people swag about in those dumps acting like they've been able to afford to swig overpriced coffee all their sodding lives..makes me retch, what a pretentious bunch of tossers

cafe latte my arse
and the award for most britishest post of the week goes to... :D

and the award for most britishest post of the week goes to... :D


I award you a point just for that funky new word alone 

;D


whoops 

An Error Has Occurred!
Sorry, you can't repeat a karma action without waiting 24 hours.

Meh.  I rarely go.  I have a bag of Starbucks ground coffee at home.  The café in our building at work serves a small selection of Starbucks products.  I'm just as happy with a coffee from Circle K or QuikTrip or McDonald's if I'm craving one.

YES!! there are several in Newcastle and that's before the 7 in the dept. stores  ::) and all the people swag about in those dumps acting like they've been able to afford to swig overpriced coffee all their sodding lives..makes me retch, what a pretentious bunch of tossers

cafe latte my arse
You go girl!  ;D

hmm maybe they will lower prices??  ::)

I award you a point just for that funky new word alone 

;D


whoops 

An Error Has Occurred!
Sorry, you can't repeat a karma action without waiting 24 hours.

LOL,at first it looked like another similar word! ;D

All the big cities in the U.K are swamped with coffee places. I hate it, we have 8 in the centre of Oxford alone!?! The other mad thing is they all shut at 7pm. I don't get that at all.


Because they expect you to go to sleep at night, and coffee would preclude that?  :D

the scarf thing reminds me of this.

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/05/23/of-donuts-and-dumb-celebrities/

http://michellemalkin.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/1ddrr.jpg

dunkin donuts = scarf-wielding baby-killing jihadists! which is funny because dunkin donuts is totally like the working-man's starbucks cuz the coffee doesn't cost eight dollars. thus, winnnnnding my way back around to the topic at hand.

My friend bawled me out for drinking coffee from Dunkin' Donuts 'coz, apparently, they're owned bythe Carlyle Group.  The Donut-Industrial Complex?

It might not be the faltering economy so much as Starbucks getting too big for its breeches.  I'm sure the one in Amherst will stay in business.  College town.  I was going there for a while in unspoken protest of the rude-azz college kids who worked at Rao's Coffee around the corner.  I mean, Starbucks hires college kids too, but they don't let 'em be rude to regulars like Rao's.  Now I just go to Amherst Coffee, which is mom-n-pop and better than Starbucks and the indie coffee shops in town.  I used to order mochas at Rao's and the sneering punk behind the counter knew I liked whipped cream on my mochas, but he played this passive-aggressive game of making me ask for it twice, and then outgassing an impatient sigh or a fresh remark.  I considered going around to his side of the counter and pouring a pot of boiling water over his head and watch him scream while his skin turned red and peeled, then I thought better of it and started going to Starbucks.  Yeah, I prefer mom-n-pops, but if mom-n-pop are gonna be dicks, then the evil megacorp gets my three bucks!
::)

Y’know the closing of 600 Starbucks doesn’t surprise me.  Simply too many in the same place at the same time.
Realistically speaking, I wonder just how the corporate office thought having two Starbuck outlets in the same building (opposite corners of the same building) was going  to pan out…

What concerns me more is the seemingly un-quenchable craving for caffeine and the coffee house culture we have now. Has anyone taken into account just why our current culture needs so much stimulation?

Look at the growth of our stimulated culture. Red Bull, Monster drinks, Rockstar, 5 Hour Energy. There are  candy, pastries, beer, gum, mints and even water injected with caffeine nowadays.  Heck, it used to be that there were at least some sodas/soft drinks that were caffeine free, but not any more.  Even cream/orange soda and chocolate drinks and milk nowadays are pumped up with the stuff.

Why?  Are our lives SO dependent on that cup of java that we can’t survive? Can we not operate in our lives without some “Jolt” of caffeine?  I remember, back in the day, they used to say,” speed kills”. 

Caffeine has got to be this countries legal speed boost without question.  So why are we on such a “legal” speed trip lately?
Maybe closing some of our easily accessed caffeine sources is a GOOD thing.

Y’know the closing of 600 Starbucks doesn’t surprise me.  Simply too many in the same place at the same time.
Realistically speaking, I wonder just how the corporate office thought having two Starbuck outlets in the same building (opposite corners of the same building) was going  to pan out…

What concerns me more is the seemingly un-quenchable craving for caffeine and the coffee house culture we have now. Has anyone taken into account just why our current culture needs so much stimulation?

Look at the growth of our stimulated culture. Red Bull, Monster drinks, Rockstar, 5 Hour Energy. There are  candy, pastries, beer, gum, mints and even water injected with caffeine nowadays.  Heck, it used to be that there were at least some sodas/soft drinks that were caffeine free, but not any more.  Even cream/orange soda and chocolate drinks and milk nowadays are pumped up with the stuff.

Why?  Are our lives SO dependent on that cup of java that we can’t survive? Can we not operate in our lives without some “Jolt” of caffeine?  I remember, back in the day, they used to say,” speed kills”. 

Caffeine has got to be this countries legal speed boost without question.  So why are we on such a “legal” speed trip lately?
Maybe closing some of our easily accessed caffeine sources is a GOOD thing.



Just a fun site with the listing of all the caffeine in different drinks.

http://wilstar.com/caffeine.htm

Just a fun site with the listing of all the caffeine in different drinks.

http://wilstar.com/caffeine.htm


Diet Coke has more caffeine than Cherry Coke.  I'm going to have to get use to the taste of artificial sweeteners.

and the award for most britishest post of the week goes to... :D


can you get the Royle Family on telly over there?

What concerns me more is the seemingly un-quenchable craving for caffeine and the coffee house culture we have now. Has anyone taken into account just why our current culture needs so much stimulation?



'Coz Xanax makes us sleepy!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/13/icon_scratch.gif

What a shame, i wonder if any will close in the UK... I doubt there are that many over here actually so nevermind that. I know i'd be upset if i lived near one that was closing in the US. McDonalds is still growing strong though so it's all good, right? :D

Too Bad for them .They priced them selves out of bussness! Posers of the 00s!
Besides we got "Tim Hortons"........A way better cup of coffee..
Dunkin donuts is like Mcdonalds.....A mix of swill & dishwater........
Starbucks doesn't do as well as Timmy's up here in Canada....never did
Tim Hortons is on just about every street corner & has major line ups every morning..
Starbucks.!!??..The crickets are chirping in the parking lot! ;D ;D

I always get diner coffee.  it's almost always from the same company so I know it's consistantly someting i like.

I always get diner coffee.  it's almost always from the same company so I know it's consistantly someting i like.

Though thanks to Starbucks and the demand for good coffee, you can get good coffee in diners.  They can't get away with dishing up coffee that tastes like it was filtered through stale cigarette butts like the old days!
8-P

'Coz Xanax makes us sleepy!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/13/icon_scratch.gif


Yeah it does http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/09/sleep.gif
Hey Starbucks coffee costs as much as gas.
We have a Starbucks in our local Target, I just like the way it smells.

I noticed last Friday that the is to be a new Starbucks in Hammersmith.

They might close the one in Garfield Heights...because of methane gas that's on the shopping center.