Results tagged “coffee”

"Coffee" by Amy Galbraith, from our Flickr pool

Starbucks' third quarter earnings beat market expectations, sending its stock up 8 percent. Don't assume this is because their new "we're not Starbucks" campaign or other gimmicks are working, though--most of the improved earnings is due to cutbacks, layoffs, and store closures.

"Elliott Bay Cafe" by seadevi, from the Seattlest Flickr Pool

"Happiness..." by [Katsumi], from our Flickr pool

CHS's seadevi notes the Vita/Theo collaboration--"You got coffee in my chocolate! You got chocolate in my coffee!"--has hit the New York Times style blog. Howard, you might want to sit down for the first sentence: "From Seattle, the birthplace of Starbucks, comes a cooler coffee company." (Why do people have to make invidious comparisons? Why?!) The verdict: one bar is a "tasty rush," while the other is a "milder, milkier affair."

In the beginning, the word was carved on tablets. Eventually, gospels were inscribed on parchment, then newsprint, then pixellated onto the screens of iPhones. Now the medium is the gunney sack and Starbucks is firing back.

• The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce asks what livability is and receives several thoughtful responses. We'd settle for a coffee and donut place on every corner. (h/t to Hugeasscity.)
• Rainier Valley Post has a hot tip about "close-your-eyes-and-sigh" good Eritrean cuisine on Rainier Avenue.
• The Capitol Record posted blow-by-blow reports on the Senate and House budget meetings today. Grim reading, but very informative.

Starbucks might be seeing hard times, but Tully's is expanding--by selling half of the company to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and focusing on retail nationwide. In effect, the sale means the Tully's brand will have a greater presence on the East Coast, and we'll probably see Green Mountain coffee on more shelves here in the Northwest. The deal saves Tully's from a path headed straight towards bankruptcy, thought it does mean reduced operations at the old Rainier Brewery.

One thing that's been bugging us about Howard Schultz's rah-rah at the Starbucks annual meeting yesterday is his attack on the "myth" of the $4 coffee. Why? Stop, stop, you've winkled it out of us! Look, you can't deal with a perception by defining it out of existence: "Half of the beverages we sell are under $3," says Schultz, knowing he's misrepresenting the issue. People think a latte at Starbucks will cost them, with tax and tip, closer to $4 than $3.

MvB is going to get his pound of opening night hors d'oeuvres after seeing the The Merchant of Venice at the Seattle Shakespeare Company tonight. Saturday, if rainy, may involve an all-day LOTR-athon at a friend's in LQA.

The plaque to the right is found in an elevator at Starbucks HQ. A Seattlest tipster snapped a photo and sent it along, wondering if maybe this indicates an unusual "reverse psychology" approach to motivational phrases.

Cuppa Joe by aaronbrethorst

SBUX downsizing is in the P-I: A managing director at McAdams Wright Ragen is quoted as saying Starbucks may cut up to 1,000 jobs from its headquarters, and also some district managers and field employees--but not baristas. Over at Starbucks Gossip, the...well, the gossip is that previous layoffs have already affected customer service.

• Joining us for the first time in our Round-Up is Lake City Live, with a request for more and better coffee in their area. It's true--we drove around in Lake City a few days ago and all we found were Jack In The Boxes and car dealerships. No Vivace branches to be found.
• Someone on Seattle Livejournal was summoned for jury duty to two different courts for dates within two weeks of each other. What to do, what to do? Seattlest will take one of those summons off your hands, as we've been wanting to serve for years now and have remained un-beckoned by the law.
• It's just about that time for an Amanda Knox post, and West Seattle Blog kindly obliges with an archived video of a King5 interview with Amanda's sisters.

Maybe all the caffeine is messing with people's heads, because it seems like every news outlet in town is talking about the Deluxe Coffee Giant vs. Fast Food Joint brew-down. It's senseless, because by having that conversation at all, we're feeding directly into that marketing whirlpool and somehow skipping over what's really important in life: french fries. French fries done right are crunchy, salty, golden and plentiful. To restore balance to the universe, DCG should consider selling french fries for a quarter of FFJ's cost--and never mind the smell, french fries smell like heaven in a greasy cardboard box.

Is your vita not so dolce? Go to Stella on First Avenue across from SAM, order a doppio, and drink it at the bar just like those I-talians do. It's cheaper than taking a seat at one of the marble-topped tables, and makes you feel all cool and Euro. Owner/barista Rob Wilson wants to encourage customers to sip and chat, rather than sulk behind laptops. Don't worry--we'll still be here when you log on again. Ciao.

Last week, Starbucks announced that same store sales had dropped 9 percent in their U.S. shops. That news is followed today by McDonald's getting all braggy about their sales increasing 7.7 percent, leading us to wonder whether the other 1.3% just threw in the towel and switched to the hard stuff.

Books new and used, wi-fi, sandwiches, coffee, and a fireplace: Third Place Books (in both locations) had for years held a perch high up on Seattlest's list of cozy, soul-nourishing morning destinations as the bearer of quite a few good things. When we moved south from our studio apartment on the Ave to a somewhat quieter, albeit shared, old house on Capitol Hill, Third Place's Ravenna location fell into that regrettable out-of-sight-out-of-mind zone. Our visits became rare. When we did remember, the Honey Bear Bakery was always there in the same building to greet us with bottomless cups of dark coffee, warm orange-pecan rolls, or a noon-time sandwich packed with sprouts and hummus.

We're looking for the perfect place to get some computer-y work done this weekend. Because Obama was elected president, we have hope that such a perfect place exists. Requirements: must have coffee, must have wifi, and must not have the music turned up to 11. Preferred extra qualities: good food, a fireplace, and an interesting view (maybe even of the water). Seattlest is willing to drive north, south, or even to the Eastside for this perfect place. Suggestions? We'd settle for an almost-perfect four or five of the six listed qualities.

Things are cash-only at the moment, since there's a glitch with the swipey-reader system, but otherwise it's all systems go. We also got a dark chocolate graham-cracker cookie.

(Via Metblogs) Vivace will finally be opening its doors at their new Capitol Hill location this Friday, 26th. The new store is located on the ground floor of the Brix condo fortress at the north end of Broadway.

The important thing is that the big green T will stay by I-5 for your viewing pleasure. And your local Tully's shouldn't be closing. What's happened is that Tully's has sold its brand, wholesale business, and supply chain to Vermont's Green Mountain Coffee Roasters for about $40 million. They're keeping the retail side (and international biz). Tully's needed cash, since their IPO plans foundered back in February on the shoals of our current recession. The sale will pay off $8.6 million in debt, which was otherwise probably not going anywhere--Tully's has recorded a profit just once in its history.

Well, it's a sad day for Tully's loyalists in Queen Anne: the Boston & Queen Anne Ave location is closed! According to our (much appreciated) tipper Landon, the windows are covered up and a sign reads, "Thank you for your years of service." There are three coffee shops within spitting range of the bygone Tully's, so it's not like QAers are sunk for expensive caffeine. One of those coffee shops is a Peet's, which we like better than Tully's anyway. But...still. Sad day! (We like tips. Send them here.)

As you probably guessed by now, Seattlest has been through some inner conflict about this whole near-nude barista trend spreading out across our dear little region. But regardless of whether or not your want your latte served to you by a well-clad ponytail girl or a hot-bodied gal in a bikini (or a dude in pasties!), who are we to say what's wrong? Just don't show up for your 5 a.m. java fix fondling yourself and grossing out your hard-working coffee puller. We don't care what those ladies are wearing. Nobody needs to be subjected to that at work. Especially not first thing in the morning.

Despite closing stores all over the world, Starbucks announced today they'll be opening their first non-airport store in Amsterdam in 2009. Sadly, the mermaid has decided not to go the traditional Amsterdam coffee shop route, which means no Purple Haze with your Frappucino, folks.

All is not well in the land of the mermaid. After weeks of whispered words like "bloodbath" around Starbucks headquarters and gossip sites, the coffee giant announced today just how large this round of lay-offs will be. Today's cuts will affect 1,000 employees, 180 of them located in Seattle at Starbucks HQ or the regional office. This comes hot on the heels of news that Starbucks will be closing 616 under-performing stores and that the 12,000 workers that run those stores will also be jobless. The way it's going, we have a feeling 2008 will be muttered about and cursed in Starbucks circles for decades to come.

Straight from the mermaid's pressroom, Starbucks has quietly released the full list of U.S. store closures. There are 19 stores in Washington on the list and 7 stores in Seattle. If Seattlest went to Starbucks, or if we weren't fond of brewing our own strong drip coffee, we'd be mourning the loss of our neighborhood store on 15th Ave E. Also facing closure? Starbucks stores all over the city--from West Seattle to Northgate Mall to the CD. No word yet on when the actual store closures will start.

After announcing on July 1st plans to close 600 retail stores nationwide, the powers that be have released the locations of the first Starbucks stores that will close. None of the doomed stores are in Seattle or even Washington state. Heck, even Oregon and Idaho's Starbucks are safe for now. The closest Starbucks store facing closure thus far is in California, but there are hundreds more to come. So, breathe easy Seattle Starbucks baristas. Your jobs are safe, for now.

Things are not well in the land of the mermaid and her coffee empire. Starbucks announced a huge round of layoffs and store closures this afternoon. The coffee giant will be closing 600 stores nationwide and laying off 12,000 of its store employees. The 12,000 layoffs equal about 7% of Starbucks global work force. The layoffs and closures will occur between now and March 2009. No word yet if any local stores will be facing closure.

"Colorful Building" by saul_xavier