At the eve of Autumn and the perfect time to capture all the sorority sisters getting their Pumpkin Spice Latte’s, the company that has made basic bitches out of all of us is doing it again. Yep, Starbucks is making a pretty impressive move, a pick-up only shop in New York. As well as some hefty automation coming in, Starbucks is growing its name and changing some key concepts. Errbody’s gotta change sometime, and I guess it was 2019 for Starbucks.
To me, this is pretty revolutionary. If we dial back time, you’ll come to find out that Howard Schultz was trying to build a culture that doesn’t promote on-the-go, that in fact detests it in every way. Starbucks started as a place to chill that’s not home, a place you go in between work and home. It was a culture built in Italy that he imagined bringing to the US. And fuck he did it. I mean Starbucks is ingrained into every American on earth. We can’t get enough of it. Starbucks improved that “stop in between” business by evolving over time, they brought in great smelling coffee, plenty of seats and tables, free Wi-Fi, and a small selection of snacks. It is obvious that Starbucks from day one was trying to get you to come in, relax, and hopefully fall in love. The atmosphere, customer service, and of course, coffee had to be perfect. But now we have something that might change all that.
Starbucks recently announced they will be building a small, pay online and pick up only shop, in New York. The entire point of it is speed, convenience, and not giving a fuck about the atmosphere. It’s true, most New Yorkers not only live in trash but live around it too, it’s not surprising that they stopped giving a fuck about sitting down in a coffee shop. They got places to go, and people to desperately impress, they can’t be waitin’ around for no fuckin’ coffee. The entire plan seems completely novel and will probably be wildly successful for the company. My biggest question is, what will be Starbucks future? Sure, the pick-up store is only to complement the other in-house coffee shops, but I fear that just like retail, people will fall in love with the convenience. Starbucks isn’t the first to do this though. Ever heard of Luckin Coffee? Probably not, but that chain located in China has been doing this for years before Starbucks, and with giant success might I add. Bring this on-the-go culture to the States just like Shultz did with the Italian Coffee culture years ago? I think Starbucks is on to something.
All in all, this is a pretty large move in my opinion. Starbucks has time and time again found ways to reinvent themselves to be more than just coffee. With a wildly successful app, and industry know-how, I could see this being the next big evolution in Starbucks Coffee. They get your name wrong, but they do so much more right, I see this company moving well on into the future.
Starbucks is changing themselves again. The competition needs to keep up, but with a Starbucks on every fucking corner of any metropolitan area, the comp has plenty more to worry about. Anyway, that’s my take on it. Until next time.
-GS
Comments