Why Starbucks?

Alexis Kowaleski

Edited: Noah Shepardson, Trisha Vankoughnett
Coffee is for the most part the same everywhere you go; hot, full of caffeine and a good companion to the Sunday edition to your local newspaper.
Starbucks somehow has become the most popular brand in the country.
There is no typical Starbucks customer. Starbucks is home to the North Face enthusiast, gossipy women, tree huggers, nervous students and business meetings via lap top computers, student customers said.
Whether it is plain coffee, white chocolate mochas, soy chai latte with no whip cream or the ever popular caramel macchiato with skim milk, an extra shot of espresso and fat free whip cream, coffee is the nation’s conversation starter.
But the question remains, why Starbucks? The coffee is highly priced, their piano-based music fights the sound of the cappuccino machine and their endless lines don’t give the answer as to why they are so successful among all walks of life.
However diverse Starbucks is, typical customers always have a few similar qualities to them. True Starbucks customers always know the people working there, they >remember to talk on their phone while waiting in line, they prefer going in the store rather then using the drive-thru and most importantly they always bring reading material because a true trip to Starbucks never seems to last less than two hours.
Starbucks also becomes common ground among people that don’t really seem to have anywhere else to go. The coffee shop offers a common bond where people can enjoy good conversation and good coffee.
When growing an attachment to Starbucks, there then becomes a loyalty to the company, and because there seems to be a store popping up at every corner, the company is then making sure that their customers don’t have to look far to get their coffee.
With the ever growing chain of locations, Starbucks is virtually ‘on the way’ to any location you have in mind. The company then becomes just another stop on Americans to-do lists.
According to Starbucks.com there are over 6,566 company-operated stores in the United States alone. This would average out to be over 131 Starbucks locations per state. That may seem like too many locations to create an actual profit; however in 2006 the company was up 21 percent to the previous year with $6.2 billion in total revenue.
However, Starbucks also finds a home in local grocery stores, making it one step easier to getting their coffee to their customers at any time of day. The company’s convenience is another reason that they landed the number two spot on Fortune magazine’s Most Admired Companies List.
The company’s wide availability is what makes them popular to all types of coffee lovers. Starbucks brings students and business people, and everyone in between, together under one roof.
Some Starbucks locations are also subject to atmospheric change depending on the day and time. Of course not all Starbucks locations are exactly the same in every town, the overall flow of customers seem to carry similar stereotypes for the different periods during the day. During the weekdays Starbucks resembles a bee hive, customers coming and out at rapid paces. Some staying and working at their laptops, others leave with their hands full of coffee and pastries for what seems like their entire work staff.
Week nights are a bit slower. There are the college students that seemingly could spend the night at Starbucks only to wake up and start working on their dissertation hours later with another few cups of coffee.
The weekends however bring new life into the facility. During the day there are the usual weekenders, the church crowds, the early birds beginning their shopping sprees. The weekends bring a higher volume of diversity, longer stays and more gossip.
Now in some Starbucks locations, more noticeably in higher populated cities, the weekend nights bring a largely younger crowd to the hip coffee scene. Not old enough to go to the bar but just old enough to stay out past dark, young people fins sanction in 24 hour Starbucks locations that offer caffeine and good conversation.
Starbucks night life also brings a hip scene of dating adults that seem to wind their nights up with coffee and people watching. The night owl adults seem different then the day time Starbucks crowd, the coffee is the same but the attitude is different.
Day time Starbucks customers seem more awake, upbeat and ready to seize their day. Night time customers seem mellower, a bit more hip to fashions and night life activities.
It seems however that no matter the location; whether it’s in the middle of a big city or on the edge of a small town; there will always be extra shots of espresso in the morning, gossip over mid-day lattes, and extra hot tea with a side of flirting in the evening because Starbucks offers a little personality and comfort in every cup.