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Starbucks, A Seattle-Based Chain And The Largest Coffee Company In The World


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I started hitting the Bucks more after I had a baby, too. Most drive-thru coffee sucks, but Starbucks is ok considering you don't have to wake up the kid and get him out of the vehicle in order to buy it.

Of course, there is not a single Starbucks within 20 miles of my home. I sometimes drive through one of the Frederick locations when running errands there, though.

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I don't know if anyone has noticed but it seems as though the Caribou Coffee on 18th St. has gone out of business. I will place the blame predominately on Starbucks' shoulders, as they are just up the block and I think that the name recognition has trumped the quality of the coffee (which I think Caribou has the upper hand). I hear they are trying to put in another coffee concept in that space, which is around 1500 square feet, but I just don't know if that is such a good idea with The Diner, Tryst, and Starbucks all already on the block...

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I have 10 w/in 5 miles of my home, but I've never had coffee at any of them. I make my coffee at home. I have a friend who tried out the OnStar in her new vehicle, by asking where the closest Starbucks' was (she was vacationing in the Outer Banks, NC).

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I don't know if anyone has noticed but it seems as though the Caribou Coffee on 18th St. has gone out of business. I will place the blame predominately on Starbucks' shoulders, as they are just up the block and I think that the name recognition has trumped the quality of the coffee (which I think Caribou has the upper hand). I hear they are trying to put in another coffee concept in that space, which is around 1500 square feet, but I just don't know if that is such a good idea with The Diner, Tryst, and Starbucks all already on the block...
Interesting. I still own my place over there but I haven't lived in it for about a month since I'm trying to sell it (speaking of which is any Rockwell member looking for an insanely nice condo?). I used to go to Caribou to go buy all my ground espresso and to Tryst for everything else.
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Woo-Hoo! Van Ness is getting a Starbucks! Now... once Indian Ocean opens its doors (for more than 2 weeks), we'll be able to compete with the big boys: Cleveland Park.
I thought Van Ness at one time did have a somewhat decent coffee place (and not Starbuck's, either). Now you want to try again? OK. At least the Woodley Park people have to go to Van Ness if they want to enjoy the Taco Bell. :angry:
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So can someone explain to me why Starbucks doesn't serve iced decaf coffee? They did try to sell me an iced decaf americano but I was too shocked to take them up on it.
Do they have just plain "iced coffee?" I always order an iced americano. Myabe they don't have room in their refrigerators because of all the frappucino pitchers?
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Do they have just plain "iced coffee?" I always order an iced americano. Myabe they don't have room in their refrigerators because of all the frappucino pitchers?

Starbuck's does have plain "iced coffee." They'll add some simple syrup to your iced drinks if you asked for the drink sweetened.

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I thought Van Ness at one time did have a somewhat decent coffee place (and not Starbuck's, either). Now you want to try again? OK. At least the Woodley Park people have to go to Van Ness if they want to enjoy the Taco Bell. :angry:

Sirius Coffee. Sirius was owned by Andrew Frank, who also owned the Politics & Prose cafe (before selling a couple years ago). I don't know what happened to the Sirius spot, but they had a nice Probat coffee roaster in there at one point.

Useless trivia: Andrew Frank got his start in coffee at a 25-store Boston-area company called "The Coffee Connection," that was bought by Starbucks in the early 90's. When at the Coffee Connection, Andrew invented what we now know as the "Frappuccino."

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It had been some time since I had anything at Starbucks until last Thursday while Dame Edna and I were in Canton, GA. The only purpose of the coffee at the Days Inn was to stir us into getting out and finding something better. I ordered a cappucino and was rather disturbed by the amount of foam, relative to coffee, and the awful "Cardboard" taste from the paper cup. Bleccchhh! :angry:

The next time I want some cappucino, I'm going to Tryst and get it in a proper ceramic cup.

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Every time I walk into a Starbucks I know a bit of my support small business street cred slips away. Yet while conducting some retail therapy this past Sunday I popped into the Starbucks at Pentagon Row Shopping Center. I entered with my arms full of therapeutic purchases. After I ordered, the charming young lady behind the counter asked “Would you like me to bring your Americano to the table so you can put all of those bags down?” I was so stunned that I muttered something about being able to handle it myself, paid her and moved along. Twenty minutes later I am mostly through with my drink and the A section of the Washington Post when another Starbucks employee comes to my table and asks “How is your drink?” followed by a “May bring you anything else?”

Starbucks is still all of the things that it is, but this one really impressed me.

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Starbucks is still all of the things that it is, but this one really impressed me.

Sounds like some manager is paying attention to staff recruitment and training. I think they could use some help at the one at Federal Center SW Metro, however. I always only order "just coffee" and at least 1 time out of 3 my order slips through the cracks and I have to holler it back. The folks there are certainly nice enough, but there seems to be a bug in the order/delivery chain. Now, if it only had some competition besides the liquid barnacle remover served up in the adjacent government cafeterias... :angry:

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Sounds like some manager is paying attention to staff recruitment and training. I think they could use some help at the one at Federal Center SW Metro, however. I always only order "just coffee" and at least 1 time out of 3 my order slips through the cracks and I have to holler it back.
That's unfortunate. I almost always had the same experience at the Starbucks in the Holiday Inn at 6th and C SW, and started going to the Fed Center one when it opened to avoid the ineptitude. Also, it was a block closer to my office. :angry:

I can't bring myself to choose a premade Starbucks coffee drink over a ubiquitous vending machine coffee.

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I noticed at Starbucks this morning that they're featuring coffee and food pairings developed by Chef Marcus Samuelsson and Starbucks master blender Andrew Linnemann. They sell two coffees that each have a suggested pastry pairing. (More info here on Starbucks website). I just had a regular coffee - this was more than I was interested in while going to work this morning.

Also as described on the website, Andrew Linnemann and Chef Samuelsson will be doing a culinary tour of Starbucks on coffee and food pairings. Chef Samuelsson is doing a cooking demonstration from his cookbook Discovery of a Continent (of which there is an exclusive Starbucks edition) and sign cookbooks. The tour's DC stop is at the Reston Town Center Starbucks from 1:30-3:30pm on Sept. 15.

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The blueberry muffin however, sucked some serious ventworms.

All blueberry muffins suck (IMHO) when compared to the ones from the now-defunct Harvard Donut Shop, a little mom-and-pop joint in Central Square, Cambridge. Huuuuuge tops, liberally coated with giant sugar crystals. The Jayne Mansfield of blueberry muffins, but far more accessible.

What I hadn't known until just now is that it was shuttered to make way for a Starbucks franchise. *seethe seethe*

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Seemingly overnight, there's a new Starbucks in Georgetown. This one is west of the Wisconsin/M intersection where a travel agency used to be.

I guess the stores at 31st and M and 33rd and M got a little crazy after hours one night.

Nine months later...

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Is there an open store front?
Starbucks and a new 7-11 - the people in the area must be thrilled... The interior design place moved to the building across the street from Crisp and Juicy. With the 2 new stores, now Randolph's will never have to get its coffee machine working on a regular basis.
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Are the beans any good? I've never heard of them, I might give 'em a try.

They smell great. You know when you can't stop sniffing on the bag of beans? I have that with the Bean Bag beans.

[Keep this in the Starbucks thread. I like it here.]

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They smell great. You know when you can't stop sniffing on the bag of beans? I have that with the Bean Bag beans.

[Keep this in the Starbucks thread. I like it here.]

(I felt the same way recently when the door to Grape + Bean opened and I was sucked in by an unseen force)

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Too bad the author didn't note this great article in Slate (owned by Wapo) talking about how Starbucks actually helps mom and pop coffee shops.

I read that article as well when it came out and found it really interesting. My favorite statistic from the many offered was: "According to recent figures from the Specialty Coffee Association of America, 57 percent of the nation's coffeehouses are still mom and pops." Starbucks has in fact not killed the independent coffee shop. On the contrary, by telling Americans that they really want lattes and dark roast, they have helped retail coffee business as a whole.

If you have 15,000 stores, you make such an easy target, but the fact is that they are probably responsible for the fact that it is a lot easier to get a really good cup of coffee now--overall consumption is way up and consequently the standards are as well. I personally don't care for their coffee as much as I do the coffee at Java Shack or Murky or countless other independents, but I'll certainly take it when other options aren't around. Furthermore, I am part of an independent company and I love to hurl slings and arrows at big chains, but it's hard to really paint a picture of Starbucks as an enemy--this is America, and free market capitalism makes it possible for us to open Eventide as much as it makes it possible for someone to open next door to us and try to destroy us. That's business.

I am interested to see what Howard Schultz does now that he has reclaimed his former position. There was a terrific episode of the show Iconoclasts on the Sundance Channel with him and Norman Lear. I thought it was really interesting, and it is hard to walk away from that and picture him in a black cape. Maybe I am naive, but he seems very passionate. Starbucks also purchased the Clover company, which I think is a bold move. Here is a machine that bad coffee can't hide from, and if it is installed in the stores it will be interesting to see how their coffee holds up. Of course, perhaps they bought the company just to scuttle it, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

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Starbucks ... Pentagon Row.

Ordinary coffee was ... ordinary.

A group of chatting women turned out to be enjoying a visit and coffee while kids

zoomed in circles, ice skating.

Customers, not that many, no glitterati, or even many in prime demographic (under 30).

I was happy, but how can Starbucks survive like this?

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450mcdonalds11_billboard1.jpg

The other billboard says: "Large is the new Grande". :P

$4 at Starbucks now gets you a value-meal of sorts.

Customers can order a tall latte and an oatmeal or a slice of reduced-fat cinnamon swirl coffee cake for $3.95. Drip coffee drinkers can get a tall brewed coffee with a breakfast sandwich at the same price.

Starbucks said it will also launch two new breakfast sandwiches - a bacon sandwich with egg and gouda cheese and a ham sandwich made with egg and cheddar.

Source: WJLA news

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0209/593177.html

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From this week's Seattle Business Journal:

Thursday, February 12, 2009 | Modified: Friday, February 13, 2009

Starbucks to introduce instant coffee

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Greg Lamm

Don't have time to wait for a latte or a pot of drip to brew? Starbucks Corp. says it has an answer: Instant coffee.

The Seattle-based coffee retailer (NASDAQ: SBUX) plans to unveil an instant coffee product next week. In a memo sent to Starbucks employees Thursday, Vivek Varma, Starbucks senior vice president of public affairs, said the product could be in stores by Feb. 18.

Varma said this won't be your father's instant coffee. She said Starbucks has developed technology to "absolutely replicate the taste of Starbucks coffee in an instant form." Starbucks has been working on the project for 20 years, Varma said.

Varma said Starbucks was hosting an event next week in New York and other cities to introduce the new instant product.

Worldwide, there is a $17 billion market for instant coffee, according to the memo.

The new product was reported in Advertising Age, which said Starbucks planned to roll out a soluble coffee product called Via.

Too bad the original three founders didn't have a contract with Howard Schultz to make sure this would never, ever happen.
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I know it's a soul-sucking faceless corporation and that I should be giving my hard-earned cash to a local joint, but Starbucks London Fog latte makes me about as happy as is possible for $3.00.
Now that Starbucks has lost its cachet, going there is quite alright. Kind of like visiting

the local dive bar, only a coffee bar. A guilty pleasure. Some Starbucks location maintain a

certain hipitude. But most not. If they can hold on ... who knows?

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Starbucks has changed suppliers (apparently) for the classic coffee cake which is a shame, and not a shame. The coffee cake now contains nuts (to me, yuck - YMMV). Interesting to have a company go in that direction versus eliminating products with nuts. Anyway, I don't like the new coffee cake and crave the old, but I'm spending less money and eating healthier. Whatever.

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Wow - I would have thought those were two pretty high volume stores - I wonder if the rents were just too high?

Happened by the 33rd and M location yesterday and noticed that it was cleaned out. That store was never crowded by the standard of most Starbucks. My theory on that (emphasis on theory): Georgetown students stay closer to campus and go to Saxby's on 35th and O. Georgetown shoppers go to the other Starbucks on M closer to Wisconsin. I've got to think that whole end of M St. where this Starbucks was is unfortunately suffering right now with all of those high-end home design stores.

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