by Melody on December 31, 2011
Happy New Year to all my readers! Have you made any resolutions for 2012? Don’t forget that you can bring in your tumbler (meaning the limited promo tumbler) for free coffee refills during the month of January. The previous article about that promotion is here.
I decided to start the new year with a blank slate: a totally open thread. Feel free to share your resolutions for the year, or what you want to see at Starbucks this upcoming year, or anything Starbucks-related. The funny thing about having a blog like this is that it is a bit like have a restaurant: I have to always have an enticing menu of food or else people will quickly lose interest. The novelty effect wears off fast. As I look back at 2011, there were a number of store review articles, history lessons, and leadership stories that I thoroughly enjoyed. For me, a number of the high-notes for 2011 were as follows:
- The future of Starbucks has great promise – I was on cloud 9 watching the new logo be unveiled and listening to Starbucks leadership talk about the future of Starbucks. (This blog post includes audio of Mr. Howard Schultz, CEO). (January 2011)
- Starbucks store review – Austin, Texas – In February this year, I took a trip to Texas, and this Starbucks store in Austin, Texas stood out as one of my very favorite segments of the trip. (February 2011)
- Joe Magazine (1999) – I particularly love glancing back to the Starbucks of the 1990s, and seeing the history lessons for this big company. Joe Magazine was a creation of Starbucks and sold in-stores everywhere in 1999. The magazine tanked. (March 2011)
- Howard Schultz answers customer questions – This is a short audio segment with Howard Schultz answering a few random customer questions. The actual event that this is audio comes from was held on April 21, 2011, and was part of the Onward book tour. I didn’t get it up on the blog until May 2011, but it’s still a gem. The Onward book tour created a large number of events with opportunities for customers to directly throw questions at Howard Schultz. I only wish that I could have personally been at any one of the events. I do have a friend in Chicago that got her Onward book signed at one! (May 2011)
- The Clover Starbucks in Park Ridge (Chicago area) – This was another highlight for my year. I took a trip to Chicago over Memorial Day, and saw a few Clover stores there. I have so few blog posts about stores outside of the West Coast, and this trip was a delight, as I met up with two very nice friends, and met some great partners there too. Actually, every store that I visited on this Chicago trip was a lot of fun, so it was difficult to pick this blog post over any of the other Chicago-area store reviews. (June 2011)
- The Pink Lime Frozt (a Starbucks test beverage) – I took a trip to Northern California, and had the chance to try a test beverage called the Pink Lime Frozt. It was a lot of fun to get to try this unique Frappuccino-like drink, but I doubt this will ever make the menu! (July 2011)
- The butter coffee tasting: Starbucks Anniversary Blend - The Olive Way Starbucks (in Seattle’s Capital Hill neighborhood) hosts regular coffee events. I highly suggest you visit if you can. This was a world-class coffee tasting experience as we tried butter in our coffee! It’s a must-read! The partner who guided our coffee tasting is the world-famous “Mikey,” also known as “Mr. Opportunity” because his face can be seen on a Starbucks employment window cling on the windows of Starbucks stores all across North America. (September 2011)
But I want to know what YOU want to see on this site. What do you like and what do you not like? And how often do you want to see new articles? Knowing all these things will help me formulate blog content for 2012. This blog is going on three-years old. (I started in early September 2009, so I guess about 2 and half years, but it feels like MUCH longer! It feels like I’ve been at this for years.) I am still amazed that I haven’t run out of Starbucks stories!
Despite what it might look like, this is still a relatively small Starbucks blog. As far as I can tell, nothing has ever gone “viral” from this site. Actually, that might be a totally fun thing to have happen in 2012, but I’m not going to hold my breath. I really appreciate everyone who comes back over and over again to join in the comments, and “like” the blog posts and is a part of this community.
I really do want to know all your Starbucks-thoughts. If you have ideas on what I should cover, do tell. And as I said, this is an open thread. I want to entice everyone to come give feedback on what you liked in the past (or did not like): Every comment left below will be eligible for a $75 grand prize Starbucks card. (Maximum two entries per person.) All comments must be posted before 8:00 p.m. (PST) January 2, 2012. I’ll throw all the names into a hat, and pull one out as a winner. Actually, I’m going to entice my friend “LatteRose” to pull the name out of the hat, so she is not eligible to participate. (Sorry Rose!) Be sure to use a valid email address when leaving a comment so that I can easily email you and let you know if you’ve won. Winners must have an address in either the United States or Canada. As always, comments may not descend into personal attacks, or any rude and harassing comments. No spam. The $75 Starbucks card has already been purchased and is just waiting for a winner! (See attached image).
Thank you again for a great 2011! I hope 2012 is even better!
~Melody
by Melody on December 29, 2011
Attached is an image of a poster advertising Starbucks whole bean coffee. The little bag at the lower right features ‘Bella Vista’ Starbucks coffee. The very small print dates the poster to 1997. It’s an interesting image. Definitely the kind of poster that makes me take a second look and ask, ‘What is the story behind this?’ There is a finger pointing at a coffee bean. And the words atop in bold say, “Coffee First!” I also think the chalk-art style is intriguing too.
I think the poster is bold and non-traditional for advertising. It’s edgy, and yet makes the statement seemingly that you are always pointing towards coffee – or at least that is one possible interpretation of it. I don’t know what was really the intended message, or if there was a background story, so I am asking all of you, my readers, to weigh in.
I got the poster from a former partner who had been hanging on to a collection of about four or five old Starbucks posters from the mid-to-late 1990s. I bought the whole lot of them, and this one was the ‘surprise’ poster thrown in the batch. (You may see some of the others as future blog articles). The partner didn’t have much to say about it except that he indicated that all of the posters in his collection had been various kinds of in-store posters and marketing materials.
I know I said no more blog posts until 2012, but I am very curious if anyone knows anything about this poster.
by Melody on December 25, 2011
Happy Holidays everyone!
Christmas at Starbucks is here, and so I thought I would collect all of my blog articles talking about Christmas in one place. Every blog article that I have written that touches on Christmas of yesteryear is listed here. I thought it was pretty fun to look at the holiday seasons over the years! Hope you enjoy! What do you want to see at Starbucks next year for Christmas?
The mug featured in this blog post dates from Christmas 2001 at Starbucks. To be honest, it was something I found at a Goodwill, but it’s so pretty that I had to get it. I love the ingenuity and careful thought that went into this mug. It is a good example of the creativity in merchandise that I would love to see back at Starbucks.
By the way, now is a great time to mention the good work done by the non-profit Angelwish. Starbucks (in very limited districts) has partnered with Angelwish to bring toys to children with a chronic illness. The Starbucks Angelwish page is here:
http://starbucks.angelwish.org/
In a number of New Jersey Starbucks stores, as well as a handful of New York stores, Angelwish has placed collection boxes for toys. They arrange for collection and sorting of the toys and get them to children in need. (And customers, please don’t put trash in the toy collection bins! I have heard stories of people accidentally putting trash in the toy bins.) But there is a great need for monetary donations too, and if you can make a donation, and the money the goes to help sick children! Donations are needed year-round.
And with that, I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas, or a fabulous holiday of whatever you may be celebrating. Merry Christmas! Happy Festivus! Happy Hanukkah!
I wanted to say an especially big thank you to all the partners who are working to keep Starbucks open on Christmas Day! Thank you!
How is everyone’s holiday going?
I am taking a short break from the blog. There will be no new updates until after January 1, 2012. Please come back next year, and spread the word about the blog!
by Melody on December 24, 2011
Starbucks has a very small test running of a few sweet snacks. I found them at the same Starbucks store where I found the test automated coffee brewer. In fact, in the photo from that previous blog article, you can kind of see the test snacks sitting on the counter, adjacent to the pastry case. The three test snacks were Mango Morsels Drenched in Dark Chocolate made by TCHO Chocolates; Caramelized Graham Crackers made by Kika’s Treats; and lastly, Sea Salt Caramels by Liddabit Sweets.
Would any of those three items appeal to you?
I think Starbucks can do no wrong by partnering with TCHO Chocolates. They are truly a premier and gourmet chocolatier, and they produce delicious sweets. Starbucks has offered chocolates made by TCHO in the past, as seen in the photo for this previous blog post about Verona coffee. Of the three snacks here, the TCHO Chocolates were the clear winner. The mango morsels taste wonderful, and the dark chocolate was just the right amount of sweetness. This was sooo good! Please beloved Starbucks, throw your arms open wide to TCHO Chocolates.
The caramelized graham crackers weren’t terrible, but they had an odd texture to them. I expect graham crackers to have a crisp ‘snap’ to them, and these were a bit too soft, and they weren’t quite sweet enough for me either. I didn’t like the sea salt by Liddabit Sweets. I’m not sure what Starbucks was thinking. They were gooey to eat. They weren’t even very salty. I browsed the Liddabit Sweets webpage and saw a number of delicious looking treats, but I don’t think this item is their finest. Of course, taste is highly subjective.
I definitely feel like each and every time that I write about a ‘test’ item, I need to remind my readers that Starbucks tests a gazillion things, and most never launch nation-wide in stores. To browse more articles about test items, click here. Starbucks has tested everything from the Honey Vanilla Vivanno, to Refreshers, to the Apple Crumble Frappuccino, to digital menu-boards.
Would you buy or want any of these three items?
(I apologize for the pace of articles lately at this blog. Somehow I’ve just had a lot to write about.)
Happy New Year to all my readers! Have you made any resolutions for 2012? Don’t forget that you can bring in your tumbler (meaning the limited promo tumbler) for free coffee refills during the month of January. The previous article about that promotion is here.
