Star Buck Coffee

According to a recent Wall Street Journal story, Starbucks is selling cups of coffee for $1 in Seattle. No word yet on whether the king of coffee will do so nationally. The ‘short’ coffee is selling for about 50 cents less than the smallest coffee on the regular menu.

In a recent post, I mentioned the interesting approach Starbucks and McDonald’s have taken to apparently ‘steal’ customers from each other. Let’s hope a $1 Value Meal at Starbucks isn’t on the horizon…

“We are conducting a test in the Seattle area. However, this test is not indicative of any new business strategy,” said a spokeswoman in the WSJ article. “Testing is a way of life for us, as we are constantly looking for new ways to connect with the customer and provide the best ‘Starbucks Experience.’ To maintain the quality of the information we gather during testing, we do not comment on any specifics until a final decision is made.”

I guess it’s not quite as ‘secret’ as the Secret Sauce, but still a covert operation at this point…

We’ll see how the test goes. Maybe they’ll sign up Mike Piazza and Terry Bradshaw to do ‘Only a buck’ commercials like those long-distance calling ones from a while ago.

Regardless, the Star Buck Experience appears to be changing, and not always for the better.

The good news is the company brought back Howard Schultz as its new CEO. On his first day, Schultz said he’d be leading new initiatives to combat competitive inroads made by McDonald’s and others into the coffee giant’s market.

He might want to consider changes that move the company back towards their core beliefs instead of becoming more like a McCoffee.