Day: February 22, 2008

Here’s another article on how Starbucks can or cannot reinvent itself, which came out a day before yesterday’s announcement of 600 layoffs. Consultant Geoff Vuleta has gone silent on the company’s initiative to spay its baristas, but he does offer up a smart idea: go small.

Open a chain of microstores devoted solely to making coffee. “No travel cups, no music, no machines, just amazing beans and a narrow range of the best-in-the-world coffee drinks,” he envisions.

I still think their beans are a scorched mess, leading to unpalatable coffee, but hey.

Meanwhile, VM reader and Trompler Foundation curator E. Scharf sends word that there’s a movement afoot to save the breakfast sandwich. I have no horse in this race; my town doesn’t actually have a Starbucks.