Drage Loves You

Consumer Choices Blog stalwarts will already be fully acquainted with my view on Starbucks coffee (in short, I’m a fan. Believe me, I’m no Morgan Spurlock). That little shot of vanilla is my smell of freshly cut grass; I can’t get enough, which is why I did a forward somersault with tuck and half pike upon reading the following headline:

Starbucks offers free refills to beat credit crunch

Yeaahhh! Am I all over that or what?

It’s the bourgeois treats that get benched first in the midst of a financial crisis, and fancy coffee is possibly the most bourgeois treat of them all (aside from Louis Vuitton sacs chien, or dog carriers to you and me).

Starbucks are experiencing a sharp decline in customer numbers, and plan to counter this trend by offering free refills. Effectively, Starbucks is about to take on the persona of your local Carhop or ‘Big Boy’ diner (provided you live in Arkansas that is).

Good news for me then, as I’ll be able to extend my annual visits to Starbucks by a good 45 minutes, but bad news for the 700 employees who’re being made jobless by the closure of 61 stores across Australia.

I could say something along the lines of ‘it depends whether your cup is half full or half empty’, but that would be crass.

I’ve said it though.

Fancy Coffee - Luxury or Lifeblood?

Instant coffee can be a minefield. Heap your teaspoon too high with granules and you’ll end up with coffee soup. Go too sparing with the measures and your morning pick-me-up takes on the flavour of an old dishcloth. Should ‘washing-up liquid aftertaste’ rock up to the party, the whole sorry affair collapses like a freeze dried house of cards.

That’s why I prefer to buy my coffee out. I’m a coffee snob, self styled. In my opinion, Coffee Republic wins the prize for best coffee, Café Nero take gold in the ‘most lethal’ category (it’s like rocket fuel), and Costa gets a lifetime achievement award for its cool grippy cups.

However, it seems the great British public’s enthusiasm for little luxuries such as fancy coffee are somewhat on the wane.

Starbucks are shelving expansion plans having seen its UK sales fall away at alarming rates. Having described current market conditions as the worst in its 37 year history, Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz is prepared to admit fancy coffee is a luxury that most people can no longer afford.

I recall reading an article in the Independent describing how Starbucks established themselves. Considered by rival coffee houses to be something of a suicidal move at the time, Starbucks acquired opposing properties on busy roads, and opened two facing outlets at a time.

Although it appeared Starbucks were on an insane mission to compete with themselves, the move was in fact a canny one. Think about your walk to work. Do you vary the side of the road you walk on? Not many people do, and Starbucks had the forethought to capitalise on this by snaring customers from both sides of the street.

Times have changed however, and Starbucks profits are down by a third this quarter. Somewhat ironically, most of those facing outlets will be included in a raft of planned refurbishments and possible closures. US and UK development plans have been parked, with Starbucks opting to concentrate their efforts on fast developing eastern territories instead.

As the credit crunch tightens its grip on our finances, it makes sense bourgeois treats will be the first to suffer the chop in any belt-tightening exercise. For my part, although the coffee stays, my thrice weekly trips to Marks and Sparks have been replaced with a once weekly trip to Marks and Sparks, and a twice weekly schlep around Asda (and it really is an almighty schlep).

Has anyone else changed their daily habits to save money? Maybe you’ve traded down from Harrods to Hennes, or swapped the Beemer for a bicycle?

Let me know your stories.