A quiet winter's night at Mooloolaba. People dressed appropriately, bracing themselves against the cold of the night!
I understand this is not one of the 73% of Australia's Starbucks Stores that are closing today. It's always a sad time when people lose their jobs (over 600 in this country, nothing like the 12,000 in the US), but it also has to be said that the chain is not universally accepted, and the sympathy will not necessarily extend to the chain.
Here, we favour a stronger European style of coffee than Starbucks offers, served in something other than a paper cup!
Never the less it will leave a hole in the retail environment that will be missed by many. One wonders at the long term future for the non Capital City stores like this one.
Edit - March 2010: eighteen months after this original post "anonymous" posted a comment below. As a customer of the store picutred, I can concur that it is a great example of its kind and it does in fact offer an alternative to paper cups!
Mooloolaba
6 comments
Excellent commentary on the demise of a chain that won't be missed. I went into a Starbucks once to buy a coffee and it was so dirty that I walked straight out again.
Do you have CIBO coffee up there? I know that there is Gloria Jeans coffee (I think it's still there).
I heard a rumour that this particular Starbucks is one of the few that will remain ? Only time will tell.
I came across this while looking for photographs of my store. I work at that exact store in the picture, and to make a generalized comment about Starbucks being dirty is an insult. We work out butts off everyday to ensure a clean, welcoming and high quality store. Just because Starbucks was founded in America, people somehow disregard it...yet we all love McDonalds? And yes, we obviously didn't close. I'm a proud Australian, working for an American chain, I love my job, and I will never work in another coffee shop.
And another thing, the person who wrote this article has NEVER been to Starbucks, because if they had they would know that we have more then paper cups! We offer ceramic mugs as an alternative, along with matching ceramic plates.
Hi Anonymous!
Well I wrote the story, and I can confirm that there are many stores where paper cups WERE the only option at the time.
I am a customer of your store and I agree with yoor comments on cleanliness, it's a great environment. I was also once the franchisee of a number of food stores of a large American chain, and sadly I can relate to how you feel. It is a fact of life that poor stores do the well run ones no favours!
Don't forget also that the audience for this blog extends way beyond our shores, and the criticism does not necessarily even relate to a store in Australia. If you've ever been to one in say London, you will notice a quite different standard!
Take care, and keep serving great coffee with a great smile!
Thank you for posting that!! :)
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