Poor Starbucks.
Now, McDonald's and Dunkin' Doughnuts are attacking Starbucks. It is understandable for them to make their move now: it's best to get them while they're down.
But I have to go "public" (ha! who reads this?!) and take my stand.
If I'm going to spend my discretionary money on coffee, I want to spend it well. If I want coffee, I do not want to spend $1.50 at McDonald's for a cup of coffee that tastes just as terrible as what I'd make at home. In fact, I've been doing just that. I'm making off-brand vanilla nut coffee (found in the back of the freezer with an '07 date on it), throwing in some milk and sweetener and drinking my utilitarian cup all the way to the bottom.
But if I am going to buy coffee, I want good coffee. I want to go to people whose business it is to make coffee. And Starbucks is good. They're good at what they do. They can ask $3.00 for my tall latte, because that's their expertise. I may be going out less to give them my $3, but they deserve my coffee money. Not McDonald's.
McDonald's and Dunkin' Dougnuts are not appealing to coffee drinkers. They're appealing to Americans who are typical lazy, fast-fooders; they don't care about the quality of food or drink. Just give it to me cheap.
It's a different customer. For that reason, I do think Starbucks will hold out to the end. They may not make it, but they'll die a noble death.
4 comments:
Yep.
Also, I don't know about Dunkin Donuts, but as a corporation, Starbucks is a lot more socially responsible than McDonalds. (Buzz word? Yes. But still important to me.) I don't like to give McDonalds my money no matter what their food tastes like.
Preach It Sister! LOL :)
Personally, I feel sorry for McDonald's. They've been taken for a ride by an advertising firm that said "Sure, we can get Starbucks customers to buy 99 cent sludge instead! Easy!"
I'd never go so far as to say Starbucks deserves my money, but yeah, if Starbucks goes under it's not going to be because their customers switched to the Golden Ca... I mean Arches. It is a different demographic, in both income level and taste.
I will confess, though, that if I'm looking for function (caffeine) over form (good taste), I will break down and grab a 7-11 cappuccino or the equivalent.
I just think it's silly to dupe the public into believing you can seriously compare these companies.
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