Let's Get Trashed at Starbucks

Did you know that Starbucks is experimenting by selling beer and wine at their stores? The first store will be in Seattle near their corporate headquarters, and depending on how it does, we'll be seeing more of these Starbucks all across the nation... or no Starbucks at all.

15 blades. The best a man can get... you know,
until they come out with 16 blades

We see this all the time. A corporate giant starts to lose its vision, and looks more towards earnings and shareholder returns instead. In a matter of years, they become a shell of the company that they once were. Seriously Gillette, do I really need five blades on my shaving razor? fail. Three blades may have made for a better shave, but its subsequent products were nothing more than foolhardy attempts to keep their earnings per share and sales growth figures up. And do we even care about Krispy Kreme anymore? I remember one time a friend brought a dozen plain donuts as a housewarming gift. The best part of Krispy Kreme donuts was the novelty/exclusivity of it. Over-expansion killed that franchise quicker than Madonna killed Guy Richie's career.


So a promising coffee franchise, armed with the know-how to deliver not just good coffee, but a great coffee "experience", sweeps the entire nation into a coffee craze, then stops making good coffee. I mean, if your coffee is being compared to McDonald's coffee, you've already lost. But losing to the same burger chain in a taste test? That's like a Mortal Combat fatality ending to your demise.


I hear that a barista at a Intelligentsia Coffee store has had over a year's worth of training before getting behind the espresso machine, and I can believe that. As much as it's important to run a profitable company, their earnings are followed first by an endless passion for quality coffee. And that's what's important, that you stay great at what you were supposed to be good at. Take In-N-Out, for example. You won't find chicken sandwiches, breakfast burritos, no happy meals; just great burgers, and the same sides that we always enjoyed. And in that way, it stayed the course. They didn't look for new customers by bringing in new things to the menu. They didn't sell their products at supermarkets like Starbucks did their frappucchinos and (seriously what the heck?) energy drinks.


So now they're in a fourth-and-long position, and will be throwing a hail mary pass for their stockholders. The smart money says that the franchise won't succeed, but hey, this is America, a land of second opportunities. If you don't believe me, look at Jennifer Aniston. That woman has had more fourth and long situations than the Detroit Lions.