Monday, May 21, 2018

Can't Wait for the Follow-Up Stories as This Nutty Policy Unfolds


From the Washington Post:
Starbucks: You don’t have to buy coffee to sit in our cafes or use our restrooms

Starbucks is now allowing people to use its restrooms and sit in its cafes and patios even if they do not buy anything.

The coffee giant on Saturday announced its new policy, which says that customers, including those who did not make a purchase, can come to its cafes and stay — as long as they behave properly.

Of course, as I reported back in 2016
  (Ambiance and Early Morning Coffee in the People's Republic of San Francisco), this policy appeared to be in effect in some  San Francisco back then:

I rarely head into Howard Schultz joints but because of a very early morning conference call with a group in Switzerland, I didn't have time to grab my usual bacon and eggs breakfast at my favorite diner. So I headed into a Starbucks, which appeared to have turned into a sleepers' camp for the homeless. 
Yes, this is what greets you at a Starbucks on Montgomery Street in San Francisco. Keep in mind, Montgomery Street is the heart of the financial center of SF. This is not some out of the way Starbucks in an edgy part of town:




-RW  

8 comments:

  1. I'll be interested to see if this new definition of "customer" becomes the norm -- either voluntarily or by force.

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  2. I can see how this helps Starbucks from a PR standpoint. However, if they’re really interested in helping the poor, wouldn’t it be better to continue their immensely successful strategy of selling coffee, and to then funnel a portion of their massive profits to charity?

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    1. Or announce that they're increasing their dividend payout to shareholders to allow each shareholder to donate more to the charity of his choice (which I think is preferable from a shareholder perspective to the practice of corporate charitable giving).

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  3. I guess it will depend on what goes on in each individual Starbucks store, but this new policy makes it much less appealing as place to grab a coffee and sit. Seats have always been hard to come by at most of the stores I use, and this will likely make it worse. The restrooms have been just OK in terms of cleanliness, and this will likely make it worse.

    It feels like Starbucks may have overreacted in the PC arena. But hey, who knows, maybe there is a clientele that wants to frequent PC coffee shops. That said, I hope some enterprising competitors find a way to market that they set a higher standard by reserving their space for paying customers.

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  4. Welp.... "Shelter the homeless" is actually one of the "Corporal works of Mercy," so since this is their private property & no one is forcing them to do this, more power to 'em.

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  5. Like you said, it shall be determined how this will affect their business. Maybe I'll go with a videocam to the Starbucks in Santa Monica in a few weeks to gauge the outcome ...

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  6. TFW when you make a /pol/ troll official company policy...

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  7. Heck, maybe one of those white libtards will get some untreatable TB or other disease from one those wonderful 'immigrants' from the South. About time they got a taste of duh-versity.

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