Comments on: Starbucks Happy Hour? http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/ What is OK? Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:23:58 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: OtisKimzey.com | Starbucks listened to me!* http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-781 OtisKimzey.com | Starbucks listened to me!* Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:42:15 +0000 http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/#comment-781 [...] on December 12 of last year I wrote a piece in response to an Ad Age article that was sent to me by faithful commenter TD. As I [...] [...] on December 12 of last year I wrote a piece in response to an Ad Age article that was sent to me by faithful commenter TD. As I [...]

]]> By: Lach http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-778 Lach Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:04:23 +0000 http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/#comment-778 As per the pingback above, Kari, Amber and Phillip and I checked it out, and it's very real. Kyle, why'd they freak out when I asked for you, are you the mgr or something? I hope The Mother Ship tunes in and clues in! I want this in more stores, only maybe they can offer free short drip coffees instead of 1/2 price frapps. As per the pingback above, Kari, Amber and Phillip and I checked it out, and it’s very real. Kyle, why’d they freak out when I asked for you, are you the mgr or something?

I hope The Mother Ship tunes in and clues in! I want this in more stores, only maybe they can offer free short drip coffees instead of 1/2 price frapps.

]]> By: The Mullen Mutiny | Starbucks Happy Hour is Real http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-777 The Mullen Mutiny | Starbucks Happy Hour is Real Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:02:17 +0000 http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/#comment-777 [...] Starbucks store very far from Seattle has taken Otis Kimzey’s advice. In December of last year Otis wrote about how Starbucks should have happy hour from 5:00pm to [...] [...] Starbucks store very far from Seattle has taken Otis Kimzey’s advice. In December of last year Otis wrote about how Starbucks should have happy hour from 5:00pm to [...]

]]> By: Lach http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-756 Lach Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:24:58 +0000 http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/#comment-756 Kyle, you working tomorrow? Kyle, you working tomorrow?

]]> By: Lach http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-755 Lach Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:18:42 +0000 http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/#comment-755 Kyle, thanks for the heads-up, I'll have to check it out! Kyle, thanks for the heads-up, I’ll have to check it out!

]]> By: kyle http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-754 kyle Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:55:35 +0000 http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/#comment-754 This just in... There is one Starbucks in Houston actually doing a happy hour. I know this to be true, because I work at it. In the Northwest Part of Houston, in the Willowbrook area Starbucks has Happy Hour between 5pm-7pm EVERYDAY (yes Sat and Sun, too). All Frappuccinos are 50% off! Address 7606 FM 1960W Houston TX 77070 Phone 281-897-9912 This just in… There is one Starbucks in Houston actually doing a happy hour. I know this to be true, because I work at it. In the Northwest Part of Houston, in the Willowbrook area Starbucks has Happy Hour between 5pm-7pm EVERYDAY (yes Sat and Sun, too). All Frappuccinos are 50% off!

Address 7606 FM 1960W Houston TX 77070

Phone 281-897-9912

]]> By: Louis http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-407 Louis Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:26:38 +0000 http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/#comment-407 I went to the local Starbuck's last nigght (to get a gift card for a friend) and I was thinking of the "happy hour" discusstion.... I agree with what TD had to say ... there was no room for a happy hour ... the Christmas hype was crowding the isles ..... I was also thinking because of the nature of coffee; that a "happy hour" would work better at 6am instead of 6pm. I went to the local Starbuck’s last nigght (to get a gift card for a friend) and I was thinking of the “happy hour” discusstion…. I agree with what TD had to say … there was no room for a happy hour … the Christmas hype was crowding the isles …..
I was also thinking because of the nature of coffee; that a “happy hour” would work better at 6am instead of 6pm.

]]> By: TD http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-406 TD Fri, 14 Dec 2007 19:45:01 +0000 http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/#comment-406 As I was reading the AdAge article (before I sent it to you), I was thinking about the current "Starbucks experience" that customers get. This is part atmosphere, part interaction, part perception. While I have views of many different Starbucks in Oregon and Georgia, I also have the perspective of working at Starbucks where I rock the opening shift part-time. While I have not been to Italy, I know what the vibe and feel is of coffee joints in Salamanca, Spain, which is a young and hip college town that bustles with thousands of foreign visitors in the summer. The feel that I get at any Starbucks stateside is a far cry from the experience I had in Spain. However, culture, service (and service expectations), and customer mentality play huge part in the differences, which will never be felt at a mainstream / corporate shop here in the US, which Starbucks is now. Since I am neither an original coffee hipster nor part of the original Starbucks tour, I do not know what Starbucks used to be like. That being said, I can only imagine that Starbucks shops and the idea from which they started used to be much more down-to-earth / simple / organic (although not granola and grunge) and anything but corporate (in look, taste, touch, feeling) - offering a meaningful vibe, more bar-like baristas (think small, local shop or bar offering more insight, tips, knowledge), more coffee interested people (as opposed to people who visit and want to be part of Starbucks because it is “Starbucks”), and a more local coffee joint scene. From what I have seen stateside and at my local store, that is not the case at Starbuks anymore…it is actually as far from this initial and desired feel as Starbucks’ headquarters is from its origins in that small, Italian café. The question essentially posed by the AdAge article is “what can Starbucks do to return its sensory feelings to what it wants to be,” which would in turn help turn-around its struggling stock price and grow its business via new customers, former customers, and coffee people. As the article and Otis stated, the new ad campaign is anything but helpful to improving business and resurrecting the stock price. Neither birds nor dogs pass cheer, and, especially during the holidays, we are not looking for cheer in a cup of coffee (a non-alcoholic cup of java for those Blitzen types), which the current slogan suggests - whether or not it intends to do so. Having something gimmicky (as executed by Tully’s 3:21 effort) would not work either as Otis states. Would a happy hour be the answer? Well, from what I see, the feel, smell, local-ness, smallness, comfort, and feel is lacking and being taken out by the gross corporate creep – specifically as seen by the retail / music / book / trinket / non-coffee shop sales space (probably profitable or they would not remain) that occupies as much space as the seating in some Starbucks. Therefore, the happy hour event would lack that same “come on in and chill for a little bit while having a couple of or a few drinks with some friends.” After passing by the lack of home / locally made pastries that sit atop the pre-packaged food case that hosts glass bottled Frappuchinnos(?), prepackaged pastas, salads, and lunch sandwiches, I am not sure that I really want to go back through the line. And my barista is not likely to refill my drink as I am finishing off my first or second cup of “cheer” that I cannot smell because of the super charged oven that is reheating already cooked sandwiches from a land far, far away. As stated earlier, all of this takes away from the "let's sit and chill" feel, the welcoming environs, and the casual space that has become less coffee shop and more retail space. That is the difference in what was intended / what possibly was and what is at Starbucks. A lousy ad campaign is not going to make Starbucks more desirable. Gimmicks are not going to make business boom for the long-term. A happy hour is not going to change Starbucks’ atmosphere. As it stands right now, great change is needed to propel Starbucks into the future, and that change is going to back to what it used to be. Therefore, more sitting space with a coffee retail option is where it should start while baristas are trained better. Starbucks is currently fast food in the form of coffee and not anything like a quaint Italian café. Maybe Howard Schultz needs to return to Italy for some research and review because his brilliant idea has, with time and corporate growth, become everything that he did not want it to become. To make progress, we must often times take a few steps back. This comment become a bit lengthier than I thought it would be, and it took some turns along the way, as I did not intent for it to come out as it did. However, it turned out to be what I want to say. If you made it to the end with me, thank you. If you skipped to the end, then take the time to read all the thoughts and share your own as you will be surprised to find what you really think. As I was reading the AdAge article (before I sent it to you), I was thinking about the current “Starbucks experience” that customers get. This is part atmosphere, part interaction, part perception. While I have views of many different Starbucks in Oregon and Georgia, I also have the perspective of working at Starbucks where I rock the opening shift part-time.
While I have not been to Italy, I know what the vibe and feel is of coffee joints in Salamanca, Spain, which is a young and hip college town that bustles with thousands of foreign visitors in the summer. The feel that I get at any Starbucks stateside is a far cry from the experience I had in Spain. However, culture, service (and service expectations), and customer mentality play huge part in the differences, which will never be felt at a mainstream / corporate shop here in the US, which Starbucks is now.
Since I am neither an original coffee hipster nor part of the original Starbucks tour, I do not know what Starbucks used to be like. That being said, I can only imagine that Starbucks shops and the idea from which they started used to be much more down-to-earth / simple / organic (although not granola and grunge) and anything but corporate (in look, taste, touch, feeling) – offering a meaningful vibe, more bar-like baristas (think small, local shop or bar offering more insight, tips, knowledge), more coffee interested people (as opposed to people who visit and want to be part of Starbucks because it is “Starbucks”), and a more local coffee joint scene. From what I have seen stateside and at my local store, that is not the case at Starbuks anymore…it is actually as far from this initial and desired feel as Starbucks’ headquarters is from its origins in that small, Italian café.
The question essentially posed by the AdAge article is “what can Starbucks do to return its sensory feelings to what it wants to be,” which would in turn help turn-around its struggling stock price and grow its business via new customers, former customers, and coffee people.
As the article and Otis stated, the new ad campaign is anything but helpful to improving business and resurrecting the stock price. Neither birds nor dogs pass cheer, and, especially during the holidays, we are not looking for cheer in a cup of coffee (a non-alcoholic cup of java for those Blitzen types), which the current slogan suggests – whether or not it intends to do so. Having something gimmicky (as executed by Tully’s 3:21 effort) would not work either as Otis states.
Would a happy hour be the answer? Well, from what I see, the feel, smell, local-ness, smallness, comfort, and feel is lacking and being taken out by the gross corporate creep – specifically as seen by the retail / music / book / trinket / non-coffee shop sales space (probably profitable or they would not remain) that occupies as much space as the seating in some Starbucks. Therefore, the happy hour event would lack that same “come on in and chill for a little bit while having a couple of or a few drinks with some friends.” After passing by the lack of home / locally made pastries that sit atop the pre-packaged food case that hosts glass bottled Frappuchinnos(?), prepackaged pastas, salads, and lunch sandwiches, I am not sure that I really want to go back through the line. And my barista is not likely to refill my drink as I am finishing off my first or second cup of “cheer” that I cannot smell because of the super charged oven that is reheating already cooked sandwiches from a land far, far away. As stated earlier, all of this takes away from the “let’s sit and chill” feel, the welcoming environs, and the casual space that has become less coffee shop and more retail space. That is the difference in what was intended / what possibly was and what is at Starbucks.
A lousy ad campaign is not going to make Starbucks more desirable. Gimmicks are not going to make business boom for the long-term. A happy hour is not going to change Starbucks’ atmosphere. As it stands right now, great change is needed to propel Starbucks into the future, and that change is going to back to what it used to be. Therefore, more sitting space with a coffee retail option is where it should start while baristas are trained better. Starbucks is currently fast food in the form of coffee and not anything like a quaint Italian café. Maybe Howard Schultz needs to return to Italy for some research and review because his brilliant idea has, with time and corporate growth, become everything that he did not want it to become. To make progress, we must often times take a few steps back.
This comment become a bit lengthier than I thought it would be, and it took some turns along the way, as I did not intent for it to come out as it did. However, it turned out to be what I want to say. If you made it to the end with me, thank you. If you skipped to the end, then take the time to read all the thoughts and share your own as you will be surprised to find what you really think.

]]> By: Louis http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-401 Louis Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:48:38 +0000 http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/#comment-401 Sounds interesting to me. It would be a good way to cut back on alcohol consumtion. Sounds interesting to me. It would be a good way to cut back on alcohol consumtion.

]]> By: Krista http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-399 Krista Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:48:16 +0000 http://www.otiskimzey.com/2007/12/12/starbucks-happy-hour/#comment-399 I think you are on to something, Otis. I think you are on to something, Otis.

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