Starbucks 4Q profit drops 97%

[Jenn! 918]

Starbucks sux... With way overpriced, over roasted and totally inconsistent product. No loss to the consumer, sorry for the job losses.

If you need good coffee, check out Whole Foods Market....Small batch, fresh roasted beans, from fair market trade countries. Indonesia, Columbia and Kenya included. What a treat for the coffee consumer!!!!

Find one near you: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/all/index.php

Grind and brew it yourself, if you want a good value and a better product.....

Grind and brew is fine for drip coffee, but decent espresso makers are seriously expensive.

We use

and

and I think it's pretty darn good espresso!

[Sister Fracas 5]

ewww, coffee...

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Starbucks sux... With way overpriced, over roasted and totally inconsistent product. No loss to the consumer, sorry for the job losses.

If you need good coffee, check out Whole Foods Market....Small batch, fresh roasted beans, from fair market trade countries. Indonesia, Columbia and Kenya included. What a treat for the coffee consumer!!!!

Find one near you: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/all/index.php

Grind and brew it yourself, if you want a good value and a better product.....

Grind and brew is fine for drip coffee, but decent espresso makers are seriously expensive.

We use

and

and I think it's pretty darn good espresso!

Is that some sort of kettle?

Where do you get the water pressure from to make the shots?

[NickD 203]

Ha, all this talk about coffee is making me want to have another cup. Anybody have a dirty sock they can lend to me? Got a pot of boiling water on the stove.

[Jenn! 918]

Is that some sort of kettle?

Where do you get the water pressure from to make the shots?

Can't say I know exactly how it works, and it's not exactly the same as a 'real' espresso, but I think it does the job. It's what most Italians use at home!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_pot

[Peikko 1,575]

The Starbucks are falling, the starbucks are falling! More proof, if more were needed, that indeed we have entered the END TIMES!!!

Didn't the execs see this coming? Surely it's reasonable to expect that a business like Starbucks has a saturation point - which they reached some time ago. Even without the recession (or period of non growth or whatever the hell economists are calling this) this company was going to have to shrink.

Ha, all this talk about coffee is making me want to have another cup. Anybody have a dirty sock they can lend to me? Got a pot of boiling water on the stove.

I can't think of anything good about stewed coffee.

[*Robert* 2]

Happy Veteran's Day!

[PlatyPius 5]

I'll send you some homegrown Kona brew. Locals take absolute pride in their beans here.

Personally, while in Canada, I became addicted to my House blend Grande at $2.10. I've finally detoxed it out of my system.

Pure Kona, I dream of that. Even while spending significant time searching on several islands of Hawaii, I could not find pure Kona. Always a 20% Kona - 80% Columbian blend... Why is that?

Its much much cheaper. 100% Kona Brew is $20-$30/pound. Worth every dime though.

I agree with that and respectfully request a source for pure Kona coffee stateside... Can you help?

http://www.konalea.com/

my personal fav which I treat myself to 1-2x a week.

Sounds yummy. Too bad one pound is about half of my operating budget for a month.

[PlatyPius 5]

The Starbucks are falling, the starbucks are falling! More proof, if more were needed, that indeed we have entered the END TIMES!!!

Didn't the execs see this coming? Surely it's reasonable to expect that a business like Starbucks has a saturation point - which they reached some time ago. Even without the recession (or period of non growth or whatever the hell economists are calling this) this company was going to have to shrink.

Yes they did. Don't you remember all of the Starbucks closings several months ago? It was before the first news person had uttered the word "recession"....

[Peikko 1,575]

Yeah, I know, but obviously they didn't think this through earlier - well, that is my opinion. There is a trend for a successful company to grow bigger than they can possibly hope to support and that is tied to becoming a public company with stocks and shares and the shareholders expectations of limitless growth. Who loses? Only the company employees who take the hits time after time.

[doodlebugg 10]

In my town there's still always a line when I go into Starbucks. I have to say though that in the past two months we have cut down a LOT! We still get Starbucks since hubby and I and the kiddos are addicted but not as often as we used to. Now I brew it at home and take it in a travel mug each day to work and only go there on Sat and Sun as a special treat when I need my caramel macciato fix.

[Mononoke28 137]

I wonder how well McDonald's is doing with their specialty coffees. Also, I had heard that in some places the Juan Valdez coffee shops were doing better than Starbucks, don't know if it's true or not.

Diana

[Sister Fracas 5]

Trader Joe's fair trade, organic coffees.... anywhere from $5.99 - $10.99 per pound, from Africa, South America, Hawaii... lasts hubster one month. I can't imagine the cost he'd incur getting one cup of Starbucks everyday...

Edited November 11, 2008 by Sister Fracas

[MrsCat 6]

Yeah, I know, but obviously they didn't think this through earlier - well, that is my opinion. There is a trend for a successful company to grow bigger than they can possibly hope to support and that is tied to becoming a public company with stocks and shares and the shareholders expectations of limitless growth. Who loses? Only the company employees who take the hits time after time.

I think Starbucks will be here long after the recession. My brother in law was explaining his end of the business (not retail, but supplying to hotels/restaurants) and Starbucks is so integrated into the market its amazing. Now they'll probably lose a lot of money and a lot of staff over the next few years, but Starbucks is here to stay.

[Peikko 1,575]

I wasn't thinking it would disappear, just that in the search for profits the employees are simply expendable. So sad, too bad. I know that is the way it is - but then again does it make sense to expand and shrink like that? There has to be a considerable waste factor - that just seems stupid to me.