Starbucks experiments with alcohol in its home town

Starbucks, which has traditionally always only served caffeine as a stimulant, is conducting a small experiment with selling alcohol in a few of its Seattle stores.

The experiment will see three Seattle stores selling beer and chardonnay, alongside the usual offerings of Frappuccinos, lattes, espressos, teas and cakes. The alteration to the drinks selection is being accompanied by the further offering of live music and poetry. The names have also been altered to reflect their geographical location, for example 15th Avenue Coffee & Tea.

The coffee-chain was amongst the first leisure-businesses to show signs of the recession after stores, which it had opened in blue-collar areas of America, found themselves struggling. The company also faced competition from fast food restaurants and pubs upgrading their coffee offerings.Howard Shultz, the architect of the Starbucks explosion in the 1990s, has resumed day-to-day management of the multi-national. He cut 10,000 jobs and introduced new coffee brands, along with investment in training and technology. Starbucks suffered a 9% fall in like-for like sales slump in the 3 months to December 2008. Announcing its quarterly results today, Starbucks said that it had increased profits with an earning figure of $151 million (£92.1 million) in the fiscal third quarter to 28th June. The increase in profits was directly tied in with the cost-cutting measures.

Starbucks will review its ‘community personality’ and alcoholic offerings in its experimental outlets before deciding whether to stay or go with the policy. Starbucks started its life in Seattle in 1971 and partly took its name from a character in Herman Melville’s story of nineteenth century whaling, Moby Dick.

22 July 2009