Comments on FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: Cup O' Jolt, Or, How Americans are Tightening Thos...

Why do people insist on comparing a complicated sp...

2009-07-04T05:05:26.955-04:00

Why do people insist on comparing a complicated speciality drink from Starbucks to plain drip coffee at another shop? A 24oz drip coffee costs $1.75 at Starbucks, which is cheaper than most places.

Reminds me of the PC vs. Mac guys who compare a top-end macbook to a cheapo PC to make some nebulous point. IMO if one has to resort to dishonest to make their point, the fact is they don't have a point or the real thing that's bugging them sounds petty when stated. If you just don't like Starbucks because of your perception that a bunch of yuppies go there, own your opinion or shut up.

Where are you July Senate Rankings??????? =D

2009-07-03T16:50:36.261-04:00

Where are you July Senate Rankings??????? =D

As a person who works at Starbucks, I can tell you...

2009-07-03T11:29:33.820-04:00

As a person who works at Starbucks, I can tell you a cup of coffee is not $5, unless you customize your drink to be something high maintenance. Your venti nonfat latte? About a $3.50 drink. And that's the biggest size at Sbux (20 oz hot, 24 oz cold).
Another thing: granted, Starbucks did become popular as a cool place to be, but that's also because the company and the people strive to make it a place where you want to spend time. It's stressed in our training, the design of the cafe, and the ambiance of our stores. We strive to make it that way.

But the downturn seems to be providing a different...

2009-07-03T00:27:13.765-04:00

But the downturn seems to be providing a different and arguably long overdue jolt for Americans, as they begin to reassess how and on what they spend their disposable income now that they have less of it to dispose.

Grrr...

Everyone who thinks the recession is punishment for Americans' overconsuming: read this, dammit.

I went to an airport recently. There was a bar, a ...

2009-07-02T23:31:28.191-04:00

I went to an airport recently. There was a bar, a generic Mexican resturant and FIVE Starbucks. I would literally turn a corner and find a Starbucks. I'm not surprised so many are closing. It's time to separate the chaff.

What does this do to the famous "Starbucks to Walm...

2009-07-02T21:29:56.200-04:00

What does this do to the famous "Starbucks to Walmart ratio" that is supposedly an indicator of liberal vs. conservative leanings? Somehow I doubt that Walmarts have ben closing at the same rate.

Worst Myth ever, it never cost 5 bucks for a cup o...

2009-07-02T14:09:52.569-04:00

Worst Myth ever, it never cost 5 bucks for a cup of coffee at Starbuck's, actually it was almost always a couple cents less than the local cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts here in Boston...People always equated Dunks coffee with the price of a latte or other specialty drink, which actually probably stunted growth with Starbucks's new customer base possibly, due to a ridiculous stereotype. I personally go to Dunk's more, becasue Starbuck's different selection daily didn't really always hit with me, but I always found this weird meme quite odd how it got spread.

It's so bad they may be forced to close some of th...

2009-07-02T13:43:55.009-04:00

It's so bad they may be forced to close some of the Starbucks that are in the bathrooms of other Starbucks!

Some of the Starbucks that are across the street from other Starbucks may even be closed!

Jeeze, we got a ways to go yet. Dry cleaning? Now ...

2009-07-02T13:25:01.105-04:00

Jeeze, we got a ways to go yet. Dry cleaning? Now there's a weird toxic vanity industry.

Starbucks? Just standing forever in line to get a normal drip is a handful cause each consumer must have their custom dull caffeinated milk beverage and aggressive expansion to hog territory was a common policy for all big retail so the over capacity will make for a nose dive.

We ain't seen nothing yet. Big ticket plasma tv's, the granite countertop biz, stupid jet ski toys..Harley Davidson all tanking.

The culture of debt fueled ostentation and luxury is soon becoming a vulgar and disdained practice akin to flatulence in a crowded elevator.

I would say you're a bit off, as most of the store...

2009-07-02T11:11:22.639-04:00

I would say you're a bit off, as most of the stores you speak of are more city stores, where the majority of stores closing are suburban locations where there might be a Starbucks in the next town or 2 but not one in the same city as you have speculated, Tabel.

Tom, there's an "upside" to this change in spendin...

2009-07-02T10:05:28.958-04:00

Tom, there's an "upside" to this change in spending habits, as has been documented elsewhere: Americans have sharply increased their savings rate.

Of course doing so does lead to declingins consumer demand, and some of that savings reflects the need to create rainy day funds in anticipation of layoffs; also some probably reflects the tightening of credit, so that fewer Americans are borrowing money just for current consumption.

Nonetheless, increased savings is probably a positive.

I have bought one cup of coffee from Starbucks in ...

2009-07-02T12:06:42.414-04:00

I have bought one cup of coffee from Starbucks in the last seven months. This from a guy who bought a Venti Skim Latte every day for years before then.

We could use a July update to the Senate rankings,...

2009-07-02T12:15:14.641-04:00

We could use a July update to the Senate rankings, Nate.

PA: Specter polling shows him rather unfavorable
NH: Sununu won't run: http://www.swingstateproject.com/diary/5207/nhsen-sununu-wont-run
FL: Rubio getting serious
LA: possible serious challenge to Vitter in primary and general
NY Jr: New serious competition in primary
DE: Castle possibly running?

etc.

I wonder how many of those extra stores Starbucks ...

2009-07-02T12:12:29.386-04:00

I wonder how many of those extra stores Starbucks still had on its hands when the commercial real estate market started to drop.

The tables above also don't include previous behav...

2009-07-02T11:31:23.980-04:00

The tables above also don't include previous behaviors: that mid-westerners don't utilize dry-cleaning as often as other parts of the country; so, those that had used dry-cleaning services had made the decision they absolutely needed to do so before this economic downturn (i.e. it was a part of their career). Thusly, the tightening of belts wouldn't change as a large statistic, since, overall, we in the Mid-west tighten our belts logically, reasonably, naturally.

This also leads us to hurt more economically, because our belts are already tightened.

To me the Starbucks phenomenon represents a canny ...

2009-07-02T12:22:23.487-04:00

To me the Starbucks phenomenon represents a canny manipulation of the American herd instinct. Americans are slavishly addicted to trends—look at SUVs, as an example. It can never be argued successfully that these monsters did anything more than proclaim status. Not one of them in a million ever saw the duty they were supposedly designed for, which was off-road use. (Sport Utility Vehicle—get it?)

Through clever marketing Starbucks got to be another “with-it” thing. Otherwise who in their right mind would spend $5 on a cup of coffee, after having wasted five minutes finding a place to park then another five hiking from the parking spot to the Starbucks? It became “cool” to hang out at Starbucks; thence the explosion of their outlets.

This is what comes from successfully creating your own demand, but when it’s all an illusion, i.e. based solely on a cultivated whim (easy to instill in a fad-crazed public such as ours) the crash, when it comes, comes hard.

To pile onto what Tabal said... I remember readin...

2009-07-02T12:32:29.289-04:00

To pile onto what Tabal said...

I remember reading some time ago you could always tell what neighborhoods had a decent projected growth because a Starbucks was opening up. Apparently, Starbucks had already done the statistical demographic work according to their business model.

Well, when those projections didn't pan out, because of this economic meltdown we had, you get a map that looks like a horrible case of herpes above.

One thing to also realize about Starbuck is that n...

2009-07-02T09:42:23.222-04:00

One thing to also realize about Starbuck is that not all of those stores were opened because of demand for more beverages, but rather to prevent other coffeeshops from buying the retail space.

A large part of the explosion of Starbucks a few years back was a result of a strategy of buying up basically any corner that was for sale to prevent a Tully's or Dunkin' Doughnuts from moving in on the block.

So, while sales are dropping, some of the store closures are more due to an oversaturation in areas that Starbucks more recently moved into, like the South.