Starbucks announced today that they are acquiring the San Francisco chain of stores, La Boulange® Bakery. This is definitely a positive development. Starbucks has long offered a variety of baked goods inside their stores, though the offerings change frequently. About a decade ago (perhaps a little longer), I can clearly recall seeing the Schwarz Brothers vans in front of Starbucks stores, delivering their fresh-baked goods. The Schwarz Brothers partnership supplied a lot of the baked goods for many years. From the Schwarz Brothers era, I definitely remember a cinnamon twist bread that I especially liked.
Here’s the official press release on this bakery acquisition:
Just the other day, I was doing some research on Starbucks, and stumbled upon this 1993 Starbucks recipe for date scones! Since we are discussing food and baked items, I thought I’d throw in that link here:
Starbucks has always offered some kind of baked goods in their stores for about twenty years. There has definitely been experimentation too, as seen in this article about freshly-baked cookies at Starbucks. I recall hearing gossip that about one year ago, Starbucks tested locally-sourced bakery items in Los Angeles. In partnership with La Brea Bakery, a few Los Angeles stores tested local baked goods.
I am hopeful that the new baked goods will be of a better quality than what is currently offered. Many of the current baked goods do not look enticing to me. I suspect that Starbucks will want to add the La Boulange brand baked goods to grocery stores as well, to grow the CPG channel too.
By the way, one of the questions from the investor relations webcast on this was very interesting:
- Question: (John Ivankoe of JP Morgan) Is there an opportunity to finishing baking off any of these products in store, in maybe some of your larger outlets?
- Answer: (Howard Schultz) Yes. Well, John, when I described earlier the “new methodology,” there is going to be a completely different way that we will be presenting food. And the finishing off of the product, without getting too specific, is going to be very apparent to our customers. It is going to drive a completely different level of food awareness, food attraction and obviously we strongly believe incrementality as a result as a way that we will demonstrate romance and deliver fresh food for our customers, in ways that we have not done in 40 years.
That sounds like there will be more testing and/or growth in the area of in-store baked items.
This is an open thread. Feel free to talk about anything Starbucks-related.
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The bakery purchase is a move in the right direction for Starbucks.
Open thread…I have curiosity questions that I cannot find the answers to from a Google search. 😉
How are the bags of coffee and merchandise shipped to Starbucks stores? You never see a paneled truck or 18 wheeler with a beautiful siren logo on the side. Is it top secret?
How/why do partners work in different stores vs. just rotating regular store staff?
What are barista pet peeves that they deal with from customers on a frequent basis?
@Sandra T
1. There are trucks that deliver the stores’ orders. Big cardboard boxes everywhere. I think they mostly arrive very early morning.
2. Not sure I understand question #2. Here in Seattle. there are SO many Starbucks (downtown Seattle is comprised of 3 actual districts of stores – meaning like 36 stores in a couple square miles) that partners very often pick up shifts at other stores within their district. But partners generally work one schedule, at a store, with some consistency in being a morning, or closing person. Like I said, I think there is more sharing of staff between multiple stores in Seattle than elsewhere, just because that can often mean walking one more block to pick up a shift.
3. Pet peeves – From what I can see this varies tremendously depending on the patience levels of partners! That’s true of all of retail. People are people. In the clothing industry, customers tear up displays in two seconds.
Pet peeves of baristas when it comes to customers: Definitely, the person who is on their cell phone through the entire visit to Starbucks is a pet peeve. Customers who grab the wrong drink. Customers who fish out change at the register and take a long time to do so. Customers who simply don’t know the word “thank you.” Customers who camp out in the lobby for hours purchasing one drink, using wifi. Those are just a few that I can think of.
I was excited by this too, though I doubt we will see the fruit of this partnership here in Canada very soon, if ever. BUT, this might mean a move towards different/more specialized local offerings for us, so I’m down with it 🙂 If not, more reason to come visit the US – fun juices, Pike Place, and French pastries….Yum…
@Sandra – as far as deliveries go, I believe it varies based on the region/company. Here, we order everything from the US (or the mainland for our pastries), and it is delivered overnight by a third party delivery company. It is my understanding that this is a pretty similar setup wherever you go, just different companies doing the delivering… I like your top-secret siren truck idea though 🙂
Partners work in other stores for lots of reasons – not getting enough hours at their own store, and/or their store is closed for renos, covering a shift as a favour for another partner from that store, covering a store event (when we have meetings or store parties, we have a buddy store that covers us off and vice versa), helping fill in the gaps while the store hires up new partners/trains new hires, an unusual event that requires amazing top-notch people. Several of our downtown stores stock up on any management/longterm awesome partners who want to work during the Canada Day parade. Just like teachers try and get the same substitute teachers for their classes, I have a few core borrowed partners that I try to use to keep some sense of continuity. Better for everyone… All partners have home stores though, even if on maternity/medical leave.
Pet peeves will vary partner by partner, but mine mainly revolve around not being treated like a human being. Wearing a green apron does not revoke my rights to be treated with dignity and respect, and customers who treat me however they want to because ‘they’re paying X amount for their coffee. This is kinda hard to define, as it tends to be more of an attitude than specific actions. While I have other pet peeves, I’m not going to list them…they’ll make me annoyed 😛 And really, they’re all annoying, but easy to deal with compared to that one.
World’s longest comment….signing off now 🙂
I noticed here in Texas that partners come from the next town to work at our Starbucks and it seems like it would create an interesting paperwork trail to tally hours and cut paychecks.
So are Starbucks coffees and merchandise delivered in unmarked trucks> Why not tout the logo like Walmart does on their trucks?
What are the top selling Starbucks coffee blends? Obviously espresso roast as it is used to make the blended coffee drinks in their stores but what others are popular?
I love the Shade Grown Organic Mexico Blend but it is only sold on the website as far as I can tell and Starbucks stores no longer carry it.
I also wonder why Starbucks rarely has sales on their bagged coffees with a few exceptions like the days of sharing around the holidays they take $5 off Christmas Blend and the promo they ran in Seattle with the blonde roast coffees with $5 off per bag.
@Sandra – I think “Verona” is a top-seller, and has been for many years. French Roast probably has only niche audience.
The blonde promotion was a Chicago thing:
http://www.starbucksmelody.com/2012/05/19/big-blonde-roast-new/
And historically, Starbucks never did sales. There have been many more promotions, deals, and offering in the last few years than from early on. It seemed like for the first 15 years, there were no rewards, no sales, no nothing – except an occasional holiday sale. I suspect that this recession economic has pressured Starbucks into many of the sales – What good luck that Starbucks historically grew their business and took off during an era of great economic prosperity. Most of the deals, like other retailers, came in response to the current recession. At least, that’s what it sure looks like to me.
I agree with you that the current pastries are just not very enticing. Most of them seem so bland looking. Nothing in the case ever seems to jump out and say “eat me!”, so I usually pass. Hopefully LaBoulange Bakery offers some good cookies as well as breakfast items.
The deliveries of supplies and products always come in the evening and the trucks are parked on the street by the mini mall where my local SB is located. It is like clockwork every evening. It at times becomes a problem depending on the shipment because the store does not have alot of floor space. I wonder about the logistics of getting the bakery items from this new place that only has locations in CA. But, it sure would be nice to expand the pastry offerings. Around here in my SB district, I see sometimes partners doing a shift from one store to another if one store is short staffed. One of my pet peeves of late actually two of them – the music seems to be loud again and I find myself shouting when having conversations. I do ask for them to turn it down a bit. And the second pet peeve is some of the partners just seem too distracted of late and it seems like you are bothering them. I guess it all goes in stages.
holy cow! I missed this thread entirely. Was it really only ‘up’ for one day?
Anyway, I wanted to add this pastry: the ‘brown sugar walnut tart’ petite is WONDERFUL!!! I get these everyday and often they’re sold out if I wait too long…and have often hear the comment from a partner: ‘yeah, these are really good”. I don’t know how I ever picked one out in the first place..they don’t look that appealing but they are just delicious! These are definitely not for someone who wants a sweet that’s totally over the top…but more subtle and just really really good, imo. I would be really disappointed to see them go. (these are NOT the same as the NOT so good chocolate hazelnut tart, that looks similar)
[…] Starbucks Melody points out that Starbucks once had a partnership with Schwarz Brothers, whose vans would deliver fresh-baked fare. It also had a partnership with La Brea bakery in a few Los Angeles locations last year. […]
I was excited to hear about this! I’m always a fan of seeing the new pastries. I don’t often get them…though I’ve had an obsession lately with their cheese danishes. But anything that looks new and appealing I’ll usually try once.
Melody….just skip the email contact I sent to you…it was in regards to this topic. I somehow missed this update after the cupping one.
This is a great move for Starbucks….La Boulange & Bay Bread kick the pants off Panera. They have the most wonderfull French pastries. I have had the chocolate crossiant that Starbucks currently has and WOW! they need help. They also have a lemon tart that I melt when I think of it. I am so happy. I am just concerned that a lot of $ being used for Evo. Fresh & La Boulange I hope that this does not affect the companys ability to still put money into Starbucks. Most of the ones in my area are definately due for some sprucing up & a fresh new look. To me that is most important over the others.
The only thing I really loved in the snack case was the mini cupcakes. The chocolate one with the peanut butter icing and a wedge of a pb cup. They disappeared around the time the mini pies came out. I’m still sad about that. I loved those things 🙁
~dawn
@Sandra The trucks are not unmarked, at least around here, but they are marked with the logo of the delivery vendor – ours is a nondescript food service delivery logo – literally the initials of the company is their logo. Very boring – but does the job 🙂 In our market, this vendor delivers to lots of different companies, so it would seem that having only a Starbucks logo on their truck wouldn’t really work! Also, the earliest a delivery is ever made here is 8 pm, so there wouldn’t be a lot of advertising exposure gained by having a logo truck.
As far as best selling coffees, Christmas is our best-seller, company-wide, despite it’s limited availability. Espresso, Italian, Verona, French and Sumatra would all be high up there, though I’m sure that store by store, region by region, this varies (I know one store that goes through pounds and pounds of Breakfast blend. whereas mine sits forlornly on the shelf, gathering dust :'() The one that surprises me at my store is Yukon. It’s not a particularly well known one, but it sells steadily every week!
I miss Organic Shade Grown Mexican – I’m not sure why it is no longer sold in stores – my guess is that it has something to do with supply not being high enough? It was one of my favourites, but most of the OSGM I went through here was for partner markouts, so maybe it simply wasn’t a customer favourite? Don’t know – don’t have the data 🙂
Rebecca, thanks for the in depth response.
I stock up on Christmas Blend every holiday season and I still have at least 8 bags of it left right now. LOL Yukon is one of my least favorites and my store has tons of Tribute still sitting on shelves.
I do wonder how much an average customer spends per transaction and per month at SBUX to see if I am truly an addict per my gold card status. I will say there isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t stop in or buy a a bag of Starbucks coffee in store or at the grocery store. I even buy bags of Seattle’s Best since there are coupons out for $1.50 off per bag and it brings the sale price down to $4.50 for 12 oz. I use for the work coffee pot and to share with neighbors.
Komodo Dragon used to only be available for home delivery and it moved into stores due to popular demand so I also wonder why OSGM was switched to website only but I will keep buying it and paying the shipping fees. 😉
You’re all familiar with the Green Tea Frappuccino, right? I saw a customer with a drink of the same color but it was just over ice. How would I go about ordering that? It wouldn’t be an iced green tea. Just adding cream wouldn’t make it that color. Would I just say over ice?
Earl, that would be an Iced Green Tea Latte. It is delicious.
Melody, we certainly are buying up things these days, aren’t we? As a shareholder, I’d be curious to hear YOUR thoughts on this sort of product/brand diversification.
I enjoy the thought of niched stores that meet the demands and needs of their communities. I only wish DC had an Evolution Fresh store opening up! I’ll have to try it the next time I am home.
We are rolling out Refreshers here come Summer 2, though, so I’m pretty excited.
Tim, I think the brand diversification is really necessary to keep growing shareholder value, but I also think it helps to preserve and support what is happening in the stores. In that way, I see it as a win win. Starbucks can’t go on another building-stores-streak like they did between about 2000 and 2006. In fact, if anything, I’d say that Starbucks could still slow down a little more on building new stores. The more stores you have, the harder it is to source and supply for them. I hope there is a reasonable cap on Clover locations. The number is probably approaching 300 (my list needs updating when I have time).
Essentially, we’re buying some of the IP we need to support the stores in offering better foods. One thing though, which I didn’t write in this blog post … Later on, Howard Schultz answered a second question about in-store baking and described as something that would happen in “flagship” stores. I hope , really do hope, this means further separation between the Clover stores and the non-Clover stores. At least, at some point, give the massive size of Starbucks, it is going to make sense to have two different kinds of stores – and the Clover stores being more coffee-focused since they get the Reserve coffees.
Melody is HS saying that flagship stores are defined as those with clovers? So, does that mean the nonflagship stores including licensed stores would be shortchanged in terms of what products and services are offered? My local store is not a clover store, however, I bet if it had the space a clover would do just fine. Sometimes I really wonder if corporate looks at long range objectives for an area to see that things that might not have worked would work now. I certainly would like to see in-store baking or new pastries.
You don’t have to have a Clover to be a flagship store, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that you won’t get a Clover unless you are a flagship store. Flagship doesn’t (to my knowledge) have an *official* definition at Starbucks, but it would in general be a busier store, usually located in the heart of all the ‘living’ that goes on in that particular city/area. It’s the store tourists would gravitate to if they were trying to visit *the* Starbucks of that city, or the one you might take your out of town friends to visit to best showcase the store that represents your town. For the most part, I would hope, Starbucks has chosen these locations carefully to *be* the flagship sites, but sometimes these evolve due to changing communities. In my city, it certainly has changed – we’ve always had 2, but which one takes precedence has shifted over the last 10 years as neighbourhoods have changed.
When it comes to ‘in-store’ baking, it makes sense to start with these flagship stores, as they’ll touch the most members of the community, and really give Starbucks an idea of what kind of legs this idea has…Just like not all stores have warming ovens. From what I’ve noticed, there has been a company-wide trend of late to really analyze things and do what works for our business and not necessarily make widespread, one size fits all decisions as much, and I do think this speaks to niche stores becoming more common and (hopefully) some more local focuses (focii??)
Has anyone ever returned a Starbucks bag of coffee or called the 800 number and asked for a refund because you tried it and didn’t like it?
I heard months ago about getting stars on our card for product purchases made in grocery stores but haven’t seen anything else about it. Any feedback? I like shopping at Starbucksstore.com and using my card and getting stars for purchases but I buy a lot of coffee at the grocery stores and would love credit for those bags too.
Open thread! Yippee!
Did everyone read the latest letter released from Howard about how America can win the election?
@Diele – I haven’t seen the new Howard Schultz letter, but I will google for it in just a moment. I probably need another open thread soon! Starbucks is constantly in the news. I could do a short news roundup blog post … ?
@Sandra: I have, in the past, returned a # of coffee when I didn’t like it AT ALL and the store was fine with that. Other times when I’ve been just talking with a partner about a coffee I didn’t like etc, they urged me to return it. It’s been a while since I felt this way or did it, but definitely have done so in the past.
@Diele: “America can win the election”??? what does that mean?
Melody,
It is on the main part of the site.
Starbucks.com/indivisible
Also, stores were instructed to post on community boards and near their condiment bar.
Melody, I know you would probably not do it but you always ask favorite SBUX coffees or drinks…I would love to hear the coffees that people didn’t like and why.
😉
Thanks – I’ve seen the letter now. I also noticed that July 4th is a free tall coffee day at Starbucks too, in celebration of #Indivisible. Coffee chaos!
I open, so I am prepared for the chaos. 🙂 I plan to brew full batches continuously and use it as an opportunity to showcase our three coffees for $9.95. My store has implemented food samples all day from 5am-8pm, which will be a great way to introduce customers not only to the free brewed coffee but to food. 🙂
Since this is an open thread, I have to make a comment or two about an issue that has been bothering me of late. There are a few partners at my local SB that are just not customer focused and not very friendly. Over time this has started to annoy me and I have discovered others feel the same way about the same partners. I know that when you get a survey you can make comments. However, I was wondering if there has ever been an evaluation/comment sheet given to customers to evaluate partners from their side of the counter? Just partners. Sometimes, I am not totally sure the SM or DM notices what the customer sees. Curious how others feel if they are experiencing partners like these at their stores.
I would contact the district manager and/or store manager. Some partners act entirely different when their manager is present – I can attest to that. Since I promoted to assistant store manager I have noticed a partner may say a certain partner doesn’t follow BR2, but they will when I am present. Honestly, customer feedback is golden. We value the customer voice and especially customer feedback; this is the tool for how we can achieve highly satisfied customers all of the time.
@purple and @ Diele: While I can say for sure that all the partners are really sweet and friendly to me..the ones I deal with..and also can all do a good job on bar, I will say that when the dm is in the store, or rdm ,the store is kept up much better, as I think it should be at all times. That’s the biggest downfall I see….the store could be much better kept, all around. (and this lack of attention to the lobby etc is not just due to being busy….there are many times when it’s not so busy at all and the partners ..some of them especially….use that time to goof around…for lack of a better term) I don’t mind them fooling around a bit but not when the condiment bar is a total mess and the customers (who have been pigs) have left all kinds of debris on the tables, etc. Not to mention the never-ending filled trash bins, inside and out. And I really believe the entrance outside needs as much attention as the inside…when you walk up to the door and see the trash overflowing or drinks spilled etc, that’s a first impression. I know if I worked there I couldn’t stand it. (but, I was obsessive like that I guess).
Anyway, the point is that yes, I see a BIG difference when the dm is in the store. and to me, that shouldn’t be necessary.
Denise R and Diele thanks so much for your comments. I agree with your comments, but I think my frustration was not perhaps clearly outlined as I thought. I agree re contacting the SM and the DM and the cleanliness of the store, etc. but what I was trying to relate was my frustration with the attitudes and level of interactions the partners seem to have with the customers. I absolutely agree that the look of the store is crucial and I would not want to sit down in an area not cleaned. The SM and DM are nice people for sure but I am not totally sure from previous conversations with them that they would take action on anything related to partner’s performance. For the partners I am speaking of (and there are some truly super partners at my local store) I would like to feel welcomed and not just someone on line ordering, feel like a member of the SB community, etc. I will get off my soapbox now. I enjoyed reading the comments to my first comment re this topic. Thank you.
I can totally relate. I have been in other stores and other businesses where the overall cleanliness has drove away my business. If a store isn’t clean, then I will not stay and/or make any purchases. A store should be welcoming and inviting you to stay. Customers who linger tend to make additional purchases. My store isn’t perfect, since we are the busiest DT in my district but when there is a spare moment we are maintaining the lobby. We attempt to adhere to the ten minute rule and even do drive thru walks a minimum of twice daily.
Hi Melody,
I was really happy to see the La Boulange acquisition. I just found out about it from a friend over the weekend. Do you happen to have a transcript/recording of the webcast from Starbucks regarding the acquisition?
I checked with Starbucks and the webcast is no longer available and they can’t distribute a transcript.
Any help would be great! I enjoyed your comment with one of the questions from the webcast.
Thanks!