From Morningnewsbeat :
Starbucks announced yesterday that as part of its retrenchment, it will eliminate 600 jobs. About 220 of the positions are corporate-level employees in Seattle, and the others are open positions that will not be filled. No in-store positions are slated to be eliminated, according to reports. Starbucks has been having a hard time of late, with consumer spending down and commodity costs up – which combined to cut into its sales and profits. Meanwhile, amid concerns that it may have over-saturated the US market, the company is slowing its domestic expansion plans while putting a greater focus on the in-store experience and the quality of its coffee.
There’s all kinds of snippets from industry pundits about how Starbucks needs to ‘embrace a radical localism’, look less cookie cutter, support more fair trade and charity, or create social networking initiatives. Phooey. Starbucks has over-saturated the marketplace with over-priced, marginal tasting coffee. People are worried about putting gas in the car… Trying to sell an image that it’s okay to suck down a quadruple shot soy latte for $9 every day so that some condescending counter dweeb with a bad piercing and a hangover looks at you disdainfully for neglecting the tip jar is just not going to make it too much longer. There’s much cheaper alternatives that are just as convenient and actually taste good.