Starbucks Juices Up

Los Angeles Times: How’s this for a switcheroo: Now that Jamba Juice is offering coffee, Starbucks Coffee Co. is about to start serving up juice.

The coffee king on Thursday finalized its $30-million purchase of San Bernardino-based Evolution Fresh Inc., an artisanal fruit and vegetable juice maker created by Jimmy Rosenberg, the founder of Naked Juice.

Starbucks said it would begin offering juices, made with a process called high-pressure pasteurization, from the company in stores.

But the purchase, Starbucks’ attempt to “reinvent the $1.6-billion super-premium juice segment,” is just a stepping stone into the $50-billion health and wellness sector, the company said Thursday.

To that end, Seattle-based Starbucks said it would launch a separate and still-unnamed health and wellness chain in early to mid-2012, though details are still scant.

“It’s complimentary for them to move in a direction beyond coffee,” said Motley Fool analyst Jason Moser. “It’s a natural evolution toward being more than just a one-trick pony.”

Starbucks' 'Magic Cup' Holiday App

Mashable: Starbucks is launching its first major augmented reality app this holiday season that will let customers animate their coffee cups with their smartphones.

Starbucks Cup Magic launches for iPhone and Android devices in the U.S. next Tuesday. (In Canada, just the iPhone version will launch.) As demonstrated in the video below, the app works by pointing your phone’s camera at the company’s red holiday season coffee cups and 47 additional objects, such as bags of coffee, on display at Starbucks retail locations.

Doing so will produce animations involving five characters — an ice skater, a squirrel, a boy and a dog sledding and a fox — on your screen. You can also interact with the characters. For instance, if you tap the boy on the sled he does a somersault. Those who activate all five characters can qualify to win an as-yet-unnamed prize.

The app also includes traditional and social sharing capabilities. You can the send ecards as well as holiday offers from Starbucks, among other things.

The object, says Alexandra Wheeler, vp-global digital marketing for Starbucks, is to “surprise and delight” customers during the holiday season.

Although Starbucks experimented with an AR app years ago in an ad, Wheeler says this is the first major AR push by the company. The effort follows some other recent AR programs from marketers including an app from Nivea featuring Rihanna and an Amazon app that lets you point your phone at objects and then buy them.

Cup Magic, created by Blast Radius, caps off a year of successful mobile implementations by Starbucks. The brand launched a mobile payment app in January that has been used in more than 20 million transactions and a QR code program designed, like Starbucks Cup Magic, to enhance the in-store brand experience.

Video:

Starbucks Finds Success With Mobile Payments

TCM Net: Since the launch of its mobile payment app in January, Starbucks has found success in its use to the tune of 20 million mobile payments.

In their quarterly report, CEO Howard Schultz said there are currently about 1 million smartphones in the U.S. with at least one registered Starbucks Card, and both the number and value of mobile transactions are on the rise. Starbucks also said terminals were at 9,000 Starbucks locations nationwide, with current support for Android and BlackBerry  devices.

“The Starbucks Card mobile app continued to gain popularity as the Android app launched in June gained adoption and the updated iPhone continued to attract and gain users,” said Schultz.

According to VentureBeat, Starbucks processed more than 3 million payments just nine weeks after the launch of its app.

“The number of mobile payment transactions increases every month … we see sequential month-over-month increases in the number of customers that use mobile payment,” Adam Brotman, Starbucks’ vice president and general manager of digital ventures, said in an interview with VentureBeat. “Twenty million transactions speaks volumes.”

Starbucks attributes its future success on not only customer experience, but growing with technology.

“Our comp momentum remains broad-based and continued focus on the excellence of the customer experience in our stores continued expansion of the frequency driving the rewards program and robust innovation we're making both in products, like petite, and in technology, like mobile payment, laying the foundation for future growth,” said Troy Alstead, chief financial officer for Starbucks.

The company reported after the market closed that it earned $358.5 million, or 47 cents per share. That's up from $278.9 million, or 37 cents per share, last year. After adjusting for one-time gains and an extra week in the prior quarter, the company earned 37 cents compared with 32 cents last year.

Occupy Starbucks?

Starbucks' holiday cup

CNBC: Is that what we think it is?

The Nutcracker featured on Starbucks' new holiday cups shows some very familiar similarities to the Guy Fawkes mask that is often associated with group Anonymous and Occupy Wall Street protesters.

Was the resemblance to the Guy Fawkes mask intentional? Well, it may be.

As the Gothamist points out, Starbuck's CEO Howard Schultz has recently made some comments about the political and social state of the United States that could be interpreted as support for the protesters.

Supporting the Guy Fawkes cup theory is a recent statement made by none other than Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. "We've lost something," Schultz said. "We've either lost our conscience, or lost our soul... People want human connection... I thought there would be social unrest in America. I mean violence."

Guy Fawkes mask

Did a Biker War Erupt Over a Starbucks?

Seattle Weekly: By all accounts, the Hells Angels and Vagos motorcycle clubs are at war. In a clash between the two gangs last month at a casino in Nevada, the president of the Hells Angels' San Jose Chapter was shot and killed and a Vagos member wounded. A retaliatory drive-by felled a Vagos member the following day, and other skirmishes have spilled blood in California, Arizona, South Dakota, and elsewhere. A report yesterday from Reuters dubbed the ongoing conflict "the biggest biker feud in nearly a decade." But did it really all begin as a turf war over which gang could hang out at their local Starbucks?

On the afternoon of January 27, 2010, two Vagos were cruising through downtown Santa Cruz, California with a third member, 37-year-old Thomas Froberg, following close behind in a Chevy van, according to police testimony quoted in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The club had recently moved to establish a new chapter in the city -- Hells Angels territory.

The local Hells Angels didn't take kindly to the encroachment. A group spotted the Vagos and took off after them, reportedly on foot. Froberg swerved across three lanes of traffic to cut them off, and jumped out to fight. The bikers wielded ball-peen hammers and crowbars in the melee that followed. At some point, the Hells Angels pinned Froberg to the pavement, ripped his green Vagos shirt and stomped him.

Froberg's buddies eventually came to his rescue, and the group scattered before police arrived on the scene. Froberg was caught a few blocks away, however, and charged with gang participation and fighting in public. His mugshot (pictured above) shows a boot print on his forehead left over from the brawl.

"It was all about who would be allowed to hang out at the Starbucks downtown," Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark told Reuters. "The Vagos brazenly came in and tried to cement their presence. It was a pretty strong play on their part to establish themselves as the premiere club . . . Only in Santa Cruz would you have biker wars over who's going to control pumpkin spice lattes."

The image of a fearsome pack of Hells Angels swinging crowbars to protect their lattes and unwittingly sparking a nationwide gang war in the process is certainly amusing, but it may not be entirely accurate.

Jorge Gil-Blanco, a retired California cop, now an outlaw motorcycle gang expert with the Western States Information Network, has tracked the escalation of the Vagos-Hells Angels beef and says the bad blood between the gangs can actually be traced to an earlier incident in Orange County that soured historically amicable relations between the clubs.

"They had a major brawl at a swap meet and ended up fighting each other with motorcycle parts," Gil-Blanco tells Seattle Weekly. "Basically after that incident, the Vagos started to expand and said 'Why's everybody so afraid of the Hells Angels?' That was the real turning point."

"I seriously doubt this is all just because of Starbucks," he adds. "The Hells Angels saw the Vagos in downtown and assaulted them. They wanted to show we're the top dog and you guys aren't starting a chapter here. In fact, the Vagos actually pulled out [of Santa Cruz] after that."

Santa Cruz police did not respond to messages inquiring about the city's caffeine-crazed bikers.

Founded in San Bernardino in the 1960s, the Vagos have since expanded to Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Mexico. Gil-Blanco says they don't currently have a presence in Washington. The gang is also known as "Green Nation" for their preferred color, and their mascot is Loki, the Norse god of mischief. But while the green matches the Starbucks cup, the devilish Loki bears little resemblance to the Norse "twin-tailed siren" logo of the Seattle coffee empire.

A Starbucks barista, who answered the phone at the downtown Santa Cruz store but declined to give her name, says she's been working there for several years but can't recall any outlaw biker customers.

"There are motorcycle groups that hang out here," she says, directing further questions to Starbucks corporate headquarters, "but I've never seen any Hells Angels."

Doctor Accused of Prescribing Drugs at Starbucks

OC Register:  A doctor who is charged with illegally prescribing dangerous opiates to people he often met at Starbucks is expected to be arraigned Wednesday.

Alvin Mingczech Yee, 43, of Mission Viejo, was arrested Tuesday night at his Irvine office by Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Orange and Huntington Beach Police Department officers, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Meanwhile, authorities are looking into the death of a woman in Huntington Beach who got prescriptions from Yee and is thought to have died from an opiate overdose, according to a search warrant affidavit. The document says the Orange County deputy coroner told Huntington Beach investigators he recognized the doctor's name associated with several other overdose deaths he was investigating.

Huntington Beach police Lt. Russell Reinhart said he could not say more because of ongoing investigations.

A 56-count grand jury indictment charges Yee with prescribing drugs, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, "outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose," the release said.

Court documents allege Yee met with numerous "patients," including three undercover operatives, during evening rendezvous at Starbucks across the county and wrote prescriptions for drugs best known by brand names, including OxyContin, Vicodin, Xanax, Adderall and Suboxone.

Authorities searched Yee's home, Irvine office and his car. According to an affidavit in support of the search warrants executed Tuesday, Yee met with up to a dozen people nightly, writing prescriptions for cash.

A DEA investigation found that large quantities of controlled substances were seized and many people arrested in Seattle, Phoenix, and Detroit. Independent investigations into the arrests determined those arrested traveled to Orange County and obtained the opiates from Yee, according to the affidavit.

At least one young adult, identified as Krista Davis, who got large amounts of opiates from the doctor overdosed and died in Huntington Beach in August, the affidavit says.

If convicted, for each of the 50 counts Yee faces up to 20 years in federal prison. Each count of distribution of a controlled substance by a medical practitioner to a minor carries a mandatory minimum penalty of one year and a maximum penalty of 40 years.

Video:

Those Frustrating Starbucks Lines...

Seattle Post Intelligencer: No one likes a line jumper at Starbucks, even if you really, really need to get to the cash register because you’re robbing the place.

One man in San Diego waited patiently in line at a Starbucks so he could make off with cash. He was wearing a bandana over his face — any kid who watches cartoons would have recognized him as a bad guy — but waited until he reached the register to demand money.

Police say it’s not clear whether he was armed. A customer followed him to the parking lot of the Pacific Beach cafe and saw him get into a truck and drive away.

Starbucks Going Blonde for Lite Crowd

Consumer Affairs: Starbucks originally modeled itself on the coffee houses of Europe, trying to conjure a world where patrons linger for hours sipping espresso and debating the finer points of politics.

But in an America where political discussion consists of shouting slogans back and forth and coffee has become the base for foamy, sugar-filled concoctions that more closely resemble a chocolate shake than espresso, is it really surprising that even regular coffee must be lightened up to retain its appeal?

And so, taking a page from competitors McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks is launching a new blonde roast. It will launch in both Starbucks outlets and supermarket aisles in January and will be promoted through what Starbucks is calling a "360-degree" approach, meaning that Facebook, Twitter, etc., will be flooded with supposed coffee lovers gushing about the new blend.

Starbucks already does about as well with consumers as any sane person could reasonably expect. A ConsumerAffairs.com computerized sentiment analysis of about 4.7 million consumer comments on Facebook, Twitter and other social media and blogs finds an approval rating hovering around 80% over the last year.

Speaking at a Chicago press conference, Annie Young-Scrivner, Starbucks Chief Marketing Officer, said 40% of the 130 million coffee drinkers in the U.S. prefer a lighter-roast coffee. The new blend is aimed at them, as well as at the millions of onetime customers who had their first cup of Starbucks and announced it tasted like mud, or worse.

And just to build even more excitement, Ms. Young-Scrivner said the launch will be an even bigger investment than the launch of Via, Starbucks' instant-coffee, which dripped onto the scene in 2009.

Blonde will come in two varieties: Veranda and Willow. Really.

So with all this fiddling around with the product line-up, is Starbucks responding to a huge groundswell of discontent? We peered into our sentiment analysis matrix to find top likes and dislikes.

What we found may be what Ms. Young-Scrivner found: a solid 27% don't like the coffee. Of course, 29% do like it but even so -- if you were running a coffee house and more than a quarter of your customers didn't like the coffee, wouldn't you think maybe you had a problem?

Interestingly, the Starbucks gift card (38% like it) is even more popular than the coffee, which might also be a little worrisome.

So maybe the new blonde blend will do the trick but, then again, maybe American tastes are moving away from coffee. We suspect Starbucks has thought of this and planned accordingly.

You might recall that, as part of its 40th anniversary celebration, Starbucks unveiled a new logo, removing the "Starbucks Coffee" text and more prominently displaying its iconic siren (the kind that lures sailors to their fate, not the kind that clears traffic for fire engines).

You have to wonder if someday you won't be able to get a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Starbucks Removes Controversial Posters in France

UPI: Starbucks withdrew anti-pickpocketing posters from its stores in France even though it said people who found them to be racist were mistaken.

The poster featured a man with dark skin surrounded by arrows pointing to various objects, thelocal.fr reported Friday.

Underneath the images, the text read: "Be on your guard against unusual behavior from a stranger. Don't let pickpockets spoil your moment of relaxation at Starbucks. Keep an eye on your belongings."

A customer at a Paris Starbucks took offense and called the anti-racism group SOS Racisme. The group demanded the U.S. coffee company remove the posters from stores, saying it "targeted a minority" and attributed "delinquent behavior" to them.

A Starbucks representative said the man on the poster was supposed to represent a customer, not a pickpocket. The company has a similar poster featuring a white woman.

"The posters have been misunderstood," the company representative said. "People thought it was a pickpocket but the drawings represented clients."

Starbucks Barista Labels Customer 'Phone'

The Village Voice: Starbucks is not only offending Alec Baldwin! It is causing trouble for regular people as well, particularly a woman named Marguerite McAfee, who had an incident this week at the Starbucks on Third Avenue and 23rd Street, her regular spot, where, she says, "The employees have seemed to me to be quite unhappy and, at times, rude to customers." (She keeps going there because it's convenient.) However, yesterday, the last straw was had. She was waiting in line to purchase a tall soy latte for $4.08, playing FlightControl on her iPhone, and, well, we'll let her tell it in her words:

She writes,

I was in line for the register and the barista was taking orders before people in line paid for their drinks. There were several people in front of me in line and the barista took their orders. I was playing a game on my phone, but was completely attentive to the barista's process and noticed that he had taken the order of the lady in line in front of me. I looked up to see if he would take mine and thought he was heading back to make drinks so I looked back down at my phone. Apparently I was wrong and he had planned to take my order. He shouted at me, "Miss on the phone." I felt affronted by the way he spoke to me, it was rude and angry, as if I had no right to be looking down at my phone while waiting for him to take my order. I wasn't speaking on the phone, I was looking at it, but no manner of using a phone should have caused him to speak to me this way. I placed my order with him, a $4.08 tall soy latte, which I buy once or twice a day (this adds up over the course of a year), and continued to wait to get to the register. At the register, the cashier asked me if I had "had my order called." I didn't know what she meant, so I asked her to repeat herself. She said, "Did you have your order called?" I said to her this time, "I don't know what you mean." She then waved her hand at me as if to dismiss my idiocy. She didn't explain what she had meant, she just dismissed me with a wave of her hand, grabbed a tall cup and said, "What's the name?" I tried to explain to her that the barista had taken my order but that he had not asked my name, but she was fed up. I was trying to comply and gave the name, which happens to be my name, I am a person, who was trying to order an expensive drink from her. She wrote it on the cup and put it in line for the barista to fill.

The barista had, of course, already taken my drink order, but hadn't asked my name. Instead of using the cup that the cashier had secondarily prepared for me with my name on it, the barista was using a cup on which (I assume) he had marked what type of drink I wanted, without writing my name on the cup. I waited at the bar for my drink and continued to play the game on my phone. The barista said, "I have one soy latte coming up," so I looked up to get my drink and on the cup the barista had written the word "Phone" instead of my name, and instead of just leaving the cup blank. I was really taken aback by this action, it was meant to be humiliating and it worked. I was embarrassed to take the cup with the sort of scarlet letter written on it. I mentioned to the barista quietly that I thought this was rude and he replied, "I didn't get your name." I just left at this point, but when I got outside I got up the nerve to go back in and set things straight.

I went back to the bar and asked the barista for the manager's name. The barista ignored me and continued making drinks so I waited a few minutes for him to ask me what I needed, but finally gave up since he was intentionally ignoring me and asked again for the manager's name, to which the barista replied that the manager was in the office and "do you wanna talk to him?" I said yes and waited for the employees to get him. When he came to the bar he didn't introduce himself, he just stood there and waited for me to speak. I asked if he was the manager, then showed him the cup with "Phone" written on it and said that I thought it was "obnoxious" and "rude." The barista jumped in after I finished my sentence, even though I was speaking to the manager, and said argumentatively that he didn't realize I had given my name to the cashier, which is completely irrelevant to the situation. He was making an excuse for his actions and was now trying to argue with me. The manager looked horrified and turned to me and said he would take care of the situation. He didn't apologize or try to make amends, or ask if I would like a new cup, but he did say that he would take care of the situation. I believed him based on the look on his face as he appeared genuinely terrified that his employee had been so rude and was now arguing with the customer about an incontrovertible issue... the cup was sitting there on the bar with "Phone" written on it.

McAfee says she'll deliver her note to the manager of the Starbucks in question, and that she hopes they work to ensure that their staff is professional and kind. But given our reporting on Coffee Names and Marguerite's vowel-filled appellation, we might suggest that she come up with a "backup" name, just in case. Something better than Phone, of course. And, perhaps, we should all stop using our phones for entertainment in public (we are guilty of this, too). You never know, it might be nice to take a break now and again. Maybe.

In any case, as of this morning, McAfee had not returned to her local Starbucks. We've called them for comment and will update when we hear back.

Is Starbucks Looking to Add Juice Bars?

NY Post: Coffee king Starbucks could be making a move into the trendy pressed-juice bar business, Page Six has exclusively learned.

CEO Howard Schultz has been scoping out top New York places, the Lower East Side’s Liquiteria and The Juice Press, and he’s just hired Liquiteria manager Yohana Bencosme, an 11-year veteran from Washington Heights, to train staff in Seattle.

A source tells Page Six, “Schultz visited Juice Press in March, and after that went many times to Liquiteria. He spent a lot of time checking out the juices.” The source added, “Then he went in for the kill and hired Yohana. He has flown her out to Seattle to train staff to press juice. He said he wants to start dividing coffee shops within weeks to make one half a pressed juice ‘grab and go’ bar.”

Cold-pressed juice is said to offer higher nutrition levels and is a celeb favorite. Liquiteria owner Doug Green confirmed Schultz had hired Bencosme, saying, “She was like my daughter. He befriended us, asked about our concept, then took her. It is a huge slap in the face.” A Starbucks rep said this was “rumor and speculation.”

Bostonians Diss Starbucks' 'New York Style' Bagels

Boston Herald: A hole lot of nothing.

That’s what Boston-area bagel boosters think of Starbucks’ addition of “New York-style” bagels to its menu. “I’d probably never go in and try one,” Jason Farber, 31, of Melrose said, adding that he expects it to be “overrated and overpriced.”

Just what is a New York bagel?

“It has to be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside,” said Farber. Boiled before being baked, New York bagels are so popular that Ess-A-Bagel owner Florence Wilpon travels from the Big Apple twice a year to Osaka and Tokyo with tens of thousands of her bagels for Japanese foodies.

A Starbucks spokeswoman said: “New York bagels exemplify everything a bagel should be, from flavor profile to texture.”

Starbucks doesn’t bake the bagels on site, but said it has partnered with an unnamed New York bakery to bake them.

Puh-leeze, said Wilpon. “Ours are the best in the world.”

Bostonian bagel pros would disagree.

Though the recipe is simple — flour, water, salt, yeast and malt syrup — “The single most important thing is the skill of the person making it,” said Mike Lombardo, owner of Rosenfeld’s in Newton Centre, who charges $8.50 for a dozen. “It’s the handling correctly, letting it rise correctly and baking it correctly.”

Bay State bagel barons Rosenfeld’s, Katz Bagel Bakery in Chelsea, and Kupel’s in Brookline all do the “New York” boil-then-bake routine.

The Starbucks version costs $1.25 per bagel and comes in plain, multigrain and everything with cheese. Rebecca Or-Shahar, who was buying several dozen bagels for a Yom Kippur breakfast at Kupel’s earlier last week, said half the reason she travels from Andover to Brookline for her bagels is selection.

“They have whole-wheat sesame, whole-wheat poppy, whole-wheat raisin,” she said, pointing to the bins of nearly two dozen choices.

Ahead of her in line were Sara Potter and Jessica Nussbaum, two Brandeis University students whose trip to Kupel’s was their first.

“A Starbucks bagel wouldn’t do it for me,” said Potter. “I’m from New York.”

Nussbaum said Starbucks won’t get her regular bagel business, but might win her over occasionally — if only for convenience.

“If I was getting coffee and I was hungry,” she said, “I’d get a bagel.”

Visits to two local Starbucks in search of new bagel converts were unsuccessful. No one had tried the doughy rolls at either shop save for a toddler in Brookline — who was using a plain bagel as a teething ring. and I was hungry,” she said, “I’d get a bagel.”

Michigan Starbucks Adds Doggy Bar

Grosse Pointe Patch: Any Grosse Pointe dog can be top dog at Starbucks on Mack Avenue. The coffee shop recently added a doggy watering station--or as they refer to it, the Doggy Bar--outside by its patio. But they did more than put out a water bowl. They went all out.


As with their delicious drinks, Starbucks offers the neighborhood canines options: Tall, Grande and Venti.

For the toy poodles in the neighborhood, the Tall water bowl is the perfect fit. For mid-sized dogs such as spaniels or beagles, the Grande is the way to go. For all of the big dogs--retrievers, doodles and Great Danes--Venti is the ticket.

This is just another step for Starbucks Manager Connie Prus in paying attention to and thanking our dear, sweet canine friends for their loyalty and love. Prus is certainly a "dog" person. And this isn't the first time she has done something to help our furry friends.

She once held a pet adoption in the parking lot of the Mack establishement -- something she is hoping to do again soon. And within the next month she will again partner with the Michigan Rescue in Pontiac to offer patrons a chance to help a pet in need through "adopting" them via a holiday ornament.

"I love animals," said Prus, who has managed the Mack Avenue Starbucks for about six years. "At Starbucks we select a charity or a cause. I've always been passionate about animals. All of them deserve a home."

The holiday tree is a way for fellow dog and cat lovers to purchase food, toys, blankets or beds for, well, underpriviledged animals.

"When I started at this Starbucks I was amazed at how much the people in Grosse Pointe love their dogs," Prus said. "Last year one lady must have spent about $1,000 at Costco buying items for the animals. She brought in beds, food, toys. It took up one whole corner of the store."

For her part, Prus has adopted four dogs--two that stay at her home and two with her parents. She just can't say no.

One example: Two years ago a woman came into Starbucks and asked if they had contact information about the Michigan Humane Society. She explained that her six-year-old son continually threw their long-haired dachshund down the stairs. She, obviously, had to get rid of her dog.

"I told her to give her to me," Prus said. Prus adopted the dachshund, who is now lovingly called Foxie Roxie 'Bucks.

And now, because of her "mom," Roxie has a fancy water bowl at the Starbucks Doggy Bar, as do all of the other dogs in the neighborhood.

Starbucks Asks for Donations to Help Economy

CBS Seattle: Starbucks hopes customers will be willing to pay at least $5 more when they stop in for their morning cup of Joe.

Starting Nov. 1, Starbucks will begin collecting donations of $5 or more from customers to stimulate U.S. job growth through its “Jobs for USA” program. The Seattle-based coffee chain is collaborating with the Opportunity Finance Network, a nonprofit that works with nearly 200 community development financial institutions to provide loans to small businesses and community groups. Starbucks says 100 percent of the donations will go toward loans for firms and organizations that can add jobs or stem job losses.

Starbucks, which pioneered how Americans drink coffee, declined to estimate how much money it plans to raise, but millions of people visit its nearly 7,000 company-owned U.S. stores each day. Customers who give will get a red, white and blue wristband that says “Indivisible.”

“This is about using Starbuck’s scale for good,” said Howard Schultz, Starbucks Corp.’s CEO.

The program is the latest effort by Schultz to address the nation’s economic woes. In August, he sent more than 200,000 Starbucks employees a memo urging them to do what they can to help business thrive. Then, he asked fellow CEOs to stop contributing to political campaigns until the nation’s leaders reached a long-term economic solution. After that, he hosted a national telephone forum, bought full-page ads in two major newspapers and started a website, Upwardspiral2011.org.

Schultz said he feels personal responsibility to do something to stimulate the U.S. economy. Starbucks is hiring about 200 people a day in the U.S. as part of its efforts to remodel thousands of stores and add about 200 more locations in the next year. But Schultz said he wanted to do more.

Starbucks is covering the operational costs to get loans out through the program, which will run indefinitely. Its charitable arm, The Starbucks Foundation, is giving $5 million to get the program started, with the hope that funds will be invested in communities within a month of a donation being made.

Opportunity Finance Network works with 180 financial institutions — banks, credit, unions, loan funds and venture capital funds — that give loans in low-income communities that don’t have easy access to credit. The organization, created 27 years ago, has invested $23.2 billion and generated nearly 300,000 jobs through 2009.

Loans through the network have supported everything from charter schools to grocery stores nationwide. The organization found that, even during the recession, more than 98 percent of the money loaned out has been repaid, which is in line with traditional lenders.

Through the program, businesses will apply to financial institutions, which along with the Opportunity Finance Network will assess their potential for adding jobs. Preference will be given to applicants who can add jobs within six months. An outside organization will audit the program within a year.

“We want to match up every person who has $5 to share with every person who can’t spare $5,” said Mark Pinsky, CEO of Opportunity Finance Network.

The effort has the potential to be successful, say some experts. Community institutions succeed, they say, because they understand the needs in the areas they serve.

“I think it’s a really worthy effort,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “In theory, this is a great idea and should have impact.”

Customer Finds B Word on Her Starbucks Cup

Vicki Reveron is a native New Yorker and, until a few weeks ago, a loyal Starbucks customer. That changed one morning when a barista wrote “Bitch” on her cup instead of her name.

"I was shocked. I didn't understand why they would do that," said Reveron.



Video:

Fired Starbucks Barista Strikes a Chord

Chris Cristwell never expected the response he received after Starbucks fired him for posting an online rant video: hundreds of thousands of YouTube hits, hundreds of Facebook Fans and job offers.

"Just people contacting me about doing partnerships and selling t-shirts and singing jingles for their businesses," he said.

Video:

Starbucks Cracks Down on Freeloaders

Gothamist: It started with a simple program of outlet restriction. But now, Starbucks, the beloved community gathering space for independently-minded artist types massive corporate chain, is taking their program to the next level, cracking down on laptop lingerers taking up valuable outlet real estate. Welcome to the new world order, baby.

One Washington Heights customer relays, in great detail, his tale of humiliation and woe. JJ, you see, is a gainfully employed college graduate who telecommutes for a financial research firm based in Boston. He took a sociology class in college and learned that "humans are social creatures," so sometimes he takes his laptop to Starbucks to work, but he always buys a bagel and a grande bold coffee before settling down, dammit! Or at least, he always DID, until one unforgettable day, when a district manager asked him to leave after a mere three hours. We'll let JJ tell the rest of his "shocking" tale, which he ends by wondering "Starbucks, what happened to you?"

We'll tell you, JJ. The good times are over. Pay up, lollygagger, or you can go sit on the curb with the other bums. This aint 2010 anymore—Starbucks can't afford to just let you sit there poking your friends on the Facespace. [via Gawker]

Starbucks Fires Singing Barista

Boston Herald: Christopher Cristwell, the shirtless Starbucks barista who sings about his disgruntled co-workers and mocks fussy customers on YouTube, was fired in the middle of his shift yesterday afternoon in Chowchilla, Calif.

“In a way, I did them a favor,” the 25-year-old musician told the Working Stiff in a phone interview. “I saw this as the only way those of us on the lowest rungs of the ladder can make any changes. They obviously didn’t see me as a threat because they let me work for a week since my first meeting with human resources.”

Although his “Starbucks Rant Song” has attracted only a modest 29,000-plus hits since late July, Cristwell’s video has spread virally with company employees on Facebook and Web forums such as Starbucks Gossip. Wearing a plain green apron while playing the guitar, he sprinkles mild profanity throughout the song and ends with a disclaimer that it doesn’t represent the views of the company or himself.

“This song is not 100 percent autobiographical,” Cristwell said. “The funny part is that I truly consider myself a people person, and I’m really passionate about coffee.”

“In any high stress environment, you need to have healthy ways to break the tension,” he added. “If you go work at Starbucks, I bet you that after your shift you’ll be complaining about the same things to your friends.”

Starbucks spokesman Alan Hilowitz was not available for comment last night. But in a prepared statement on Monday, he confirmed that management met with Cristwell last week to discuss his motivation.

“While Christopher was expressing his own views in the video, the disparaging remarks about our customers and company are unacceptable and out of line with our commitment to our customers and partners,” he wrote. Starbucks, which operates more than 17,000 stores worldwide, refers to its employees as “partners.”

Customers take the brunt of the criticism in the “Rant Song.” Latinos are slammed for ordering fancy caramel Frappuccinos, overweight customers are mocked for putting too much sugar syrup in their drinks and parents with noisy kids are told, “I just want to draw a middle finger on your cup.”

Aaron Nurick, a professor of management and psychology at Bentley University, regards the video as “crude and over-the-top satire” that puts Starbucks in an awkward position.

“They just can’t ignore it, and they can’t blow it out of proportion and risk drawing even more attention to it,” he noted. “The video does seem to be striking a chord with his fellow baristas. Starbucks could use this as an opportunity for a teachable moment.”

Cristwell, who is taking classes to become an EMT, expressed no regrets over recording the song or making it public. “I made the video for my fellow baristas,” he said. “I can live with the consequences.”

Starbucks Strikes Twice in NYC's East Village

Bowery Boogie: First Avenue and Third Street saw a flurry of activity yesterday, as the media played up a newly-declared David and Goliath style battle between local coffee house The Bean and the over-caffeinated not-so-local Starbucks.

It’s not hard to get info about this story. From a block away, signs are visibly plastered all over the facade of the Bean’s current location on First Avenue, emphatically stating that they are leaving their location of ten years and are not happy about it. Forced out by “the evil empire,” they may be vacating their current corner, but not the East Village. Barely a venti away, they are opening three new locations, including one right down the block on First Avenue and Second Street (in addition to their recently opened spot on Broadway and 12th street).

Walking into the coffee house today, this Boogie writer was one of the many people filmed by NBC discussing how the neighborhood will not exactly welcome a Starbucks with open mugs. Watching NBC’s coverage tonight was somewhat disappointing. After interviewing several locals who were upset over the upcoming hostile takeover, NBC somehow managed to end the segment with some mundane chit-chat among the anchors about how “some people just aren’t used to change.”

Sort of missed the entire point, guys (and no, it’s not simply sour grapes talking because this gal ended up on NBC’s cutting room floor!).

But, wait, there’s more.

What is quite interesting to this reporter is that there is a sordid history of Starbucks and this particular space. Before The Bean (and quite briefly, a waffle shop) lived the beloved store Little Rickie, which had been an East Village institution for many years.

In the late 1990′s, back when the mallification of Manhattan was just a twinkle in corporate eyes, Little Rickie was selling stickers which resembled the Starbucks logo. The only difference – and it’s a big one – is that these stickers said “F*ckoffs Coffee” in place of you-know-who. The East Village being what it is, the stickers went over big-time.

Starbucks got wind of this preternaturally quickly and not only sued the people who made these products, but decided to sue all of the stores that sold them, Little Rickie among them.

Coincidence or not, Little Rickie’s closed shortly thereafter. So, once again, we have the involvement of Starbucks preceding the demise of a local favorite.

Just as a refresher, Little Rickie was – in this totally unbiased view – one of the greatest places that ever existed in this town. Vintage toys, outsider art (before it was even called that), kitsch memorabilia, art books, Day of the Dead collectibles (which had never been for sale in this town before) were interspersed with fine art items and the occasional comically naughty gift. One could find a perfect and affordable gift there for anyone.

It was nothing but fun on both sides of the counter. The eclectically ahead-of-the-curve owner gave yours truly a job during one of the recessions, for which she is forever grateful (despite the lousy heat in the winter).

Among the varied attractions of the store was a wildly popular black and white photo booth which inadvertently documented the celebutantes, club kids and stars of tomorrow. The booth was not only a destination (and an excellent cheap date), but now has its own Facebook page.

One last note: when the store was closing, this former employee, who already had shoeboxes filled with photobooth strips from the store, had wanted to buy the contraption (and was shocked to realize that quite a few others had the same idea). However, SOMEONE’s husband “gently” reminded her that it would take up space needed for either the stove or the bathtub. Sigh.

Starbucks' Free E-Book Offer Irks Some Customers

My Northwest: Starbucks expanded their free "Pick of the Week" iTunes offerings this week, putting up their first ebook, Erin Morgenstern's "The Night Circus."

Only it appears some didn't read the fine print of the offer.

"Starbucks is featuring an extended sample of the book The Night Circus from Erin Morgenstern," said a blog post about the promotion at Starbucks' website.

After the offer debuted at Starbucks stores this week, customers reported that when they downloaded the book, they were given 330 out of 400 pages with the last page directing them to purchase the complete book.

"The 'Pick of the Week' card certainly does not say anywhere that it's just a sample. This is very disappointing..." wrote one customer on Starbucks' website.

"i agree. i was very excited to see this today and now I'm disappointed too. I understand it it's only a sample, but the card should say that. it's very misleading!!" wrote another person.

The offer on the card does not mention that the book is only an extended sample. The card shows an image of the book with the text "Free with the code on back." Text on the back of the card deals with offer expiration and instructions to download the book.

Starbucks began the "Pick of the Week" program offering free iTunes music and video downloads on cards available at Starbucks stores. This is the first "extended sample" of an ebook offered as part of the program.