I’ll try to keep this short and sweet.
My office manager would frequently provide Starbucks treats/coffee twice a month. She’d also parade around every day with a $10 sugar drink.
Back of the napkin math: $400 a month personally, and $500 a month from the company. Or $4800/yr and $6000/yr.
In my city, Starbucks has been closing rather than allow stores to unionize. Apparently, the latest closing was the last straw. Fed up, she finally purchased locally. And to her surprise, her drink “tastes better”.
Small win.
You can buy a cool tshirt to help support the unionization effort here. I got the rainbow one cause hell yeah.
They are actually really cool.
If they shipped internationally, I’d get one.
I’m too cheap to pay $33 for tee-shirt, but they’re cool.
Starbucks upon hearing this:
Starbucks coffee is garbage coffee anyway.
Mmm, burnt beans.
I’m not a frequent coffee drinker, but Starbucks coffee tastes to me as if I am drinking a coffee-flavoured smoothie with a burnt tongue. Is that enjoyable?
Starbucks is for candy, not for coffee. There’s nothing wrong with an occasional coffee flavored milkshake.
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Unwaivering brand loyalty sucks, although in this case I am glad she could move passed it. Has she spoken about the unionisation in Starbucks?
Apparently it’s a luxury brand, people buy it to feel important. I can’t see it. And if stores close I really can’t see people going out of their way for it.
Only people that want to appear as if they have money buy “luxury” brand names. People that actually have a lot of money do not.
Most people I’ve met that really have money seem to mostly go for clothes/stuff without branding on it at all.
I mean, unions or not they just have bad coffee. It’s nice you guys can enjoy a premium cup now (although some local places suck too, but brand recognition protects Starbucks and not the locals, so a bit more survival of the tastiest).
Here in Western WA, we have so many better (and cheaper) options. I’m always surprised to see a line at Starbucks.
The line for the reserve in Seattle can go around the block it makes no sense. Sure the building is interesting but why would you want to wait an hour to get burnt coffee when there are better places literally across the street…
Ou local coffee chains coffee is way better then Starbucks. Unfortunately, I doubt the same can be said for their labor conditions.
So I used to buy Starbucks before work a couple times a month when I didn’t have time to make my own coffee.
The reason I used them was purely because I could order my coffee before I even leave my apartment and pick it up on the way to work.
Everyone’s got reasons. I’m not a huge fan - even if their blonde roast is lovely - but the local brilliant indie coffee shop is open “normal” times of the day, while Starbucks is open until late evening.
When you’re out of a choice, it just feels a bit dirtier.
I’d imagine the local place is still costing her almost $10 for her sugar drink. I don’t see many local places that are much cheaper than bucks. Just most of them don’t serve over roasted coffee.
I’m okay with that. It’s her money. But at least it’s not funding a company actively trying to destroy unions.
Starbucks hasn’t been decent for a decade, and it was debatably decent before then - you either liked their coffee or didn’t. I have definitely noticed a downturn in their coffee quality. Bland and indistinct. Same with Dunks, they used to have a distinct flavor, but that’s gone in favor of a watered down generic coffee.
They’re both suffering from enshittification, where prices go up, variety and quality go down in favor of propping up the quarterly report.
Anyway, point being, corporate coffee chains suck. Just buy from a decent local shop. Coffee and pastries, or even a real decent breakfast sandwich, can be had and taken on the go. Taste way better and supports a local business.
Local all the way! With corporate coffee, you at BEST get okay coffee and snacks. Local chains are generally at least okay coffee as they tend to bomb hard if their coffee is bad, but they’re also your only chance to find fantastic coffee and baked goods. Explore local, find the best coffee. It’s out there, waiting for you
If you’re going to drink that much coffee, look at St Louis Bread Co/Panera Bread, their Sip Club makes it cheap. $13/mo, and large cold drinks are around $3.25, so it doesn’t take long for the membership to pay for itself, and as I’m a courier, it definitely saves me money. That said, support local if you can.
