No, I don’t have a Google alert set for anytime “Omaha” + “Starbucks” appear in the same webpage. But here are some interesting Starbucks factoids I stumbled into today …
- Starbucks’s closest competitor in the coffeehouse market, Caribou Coffee, is just one-twenty-fifth its size. Every 10 weeks, Starbucks opens as many stores as the total number of Caribou outlets.
- Starbucks has had 14 straight years with at least 5% same-store sales growth.
- Contrary to popular opinion, Starbucks increases sales at rival nearby coffeehouses. For example, when it blitzed Omaha with six stores, coffee sales at local joints went up as much as 25%, and more new ones opened shop.
- The average customer spends $4.05 per visit for coffee; the average fast-food-restaurant visitor spends $4.34 for an entire meal.
- For a cup that costs $3.40, at least 40 cents is profit. When Starbucks bumped the 8-ounce cup off the menu, the 10-ounce “tall” (the new small) increased profits by 25 cents per cup for only 2 cents of added product.
So there you have it. Ironically, recently all the Caribou Coffee shops in Omaha closed in one day. Apparently Starbucks has some negative influence on the local coffee market, too! …
In case you are wondering, here are my favorites:
- Venti Columbia (Best drip coffee in the world.)
- Venti Italian (Also excellent. The second best drip coffee in the world.)
- Venti Americano (+ an extra shot of espresso). Great taste but an expensive choice — reserved only when emergency measures are necessary to attain full consciousness.
- Venti French Roast. (I’m a coffee Calvinist).
And always room for 1/2 + 1/2 with 4 Splenda. Mmm. …
Tony Reinke 
Nice thoughts, I love watching the magic of Starbucks marketing and profit model. It’s the American dream of full-on capitalism at work. (I am a retired CFO). Anyway, we saw several Dietrick coffee shops suddenly disappear in So Cal, and surprise, surprise a couple months later a Starbucks sign appeard in front. Maybe the same with Caribu.
Keep praying for our church in Ranch Bernardo (Grace Church), big time need for God’s wisdom and grace in handling all the devastation of property and peoples lives.
I have enjoyed the marketing prowis of Starbucks over the years however I cannot enjoy a visit to their stores since becoming a coffee roaster myself in my own home. Home roasters typically have a name for Starbucks quality after finding incredibly improved ability easily learned and customized in their own garage – “Char-bucks”.
For less than 3 pounds of coffee purchased from these coffee shops you can be set up at home with equipment to roast green coffee available all over the internet for $3 – $6/lb, delivered. There is nothing better than this fresh coffee for drip or espresso and the ability to roast light, medium or dark to taste. It has become a fun hobby.
I learned all on the internet and one can save fiancially enough to purchase that new DSLR or better yet – BOOKS!
Barry, that’s a great idea! And a wonderful smelling hobby, too! I’m going to look into this. We are a coffee drinking family. Thanks!
Bill, we’re praying for you in the SD area. Thanks for any updates, my friend! Tony
In terms of real coffee–that is, black, without any additives–then starbucks is at the bottom of my list, above only hotel coffee and most gas station coffee. If you want nancy-pancy-fancy-girly drinks like “mochas” and “java chips” and those pink frapachinos, then by all means, spend 3.50 to 4.50 on a single drink (even at my school, where the starbucks founder went, we have a discount on all drinks, and they are still redicously expensive). However, I am too embarassed to get such wussy-drinks.
Starbucks has been in the Kansas City area for what seems like forever, but we had our first Caribou Coffee joints open last year. So far, they seem to be doing well, but they’re not competing directly as far as staking out adjoining real estate. Several local places are doing that however, and doing quite well. Not to mention that the local beans and very-expert barristas result in superior coffee and espresso!
Starbucks has done some good things for the coffee drinker’s world, but my taste buds keep me buying local.
If you want all the Starbucks trivia you can stand, go read Leonard Sweet’s “The Gospel according to Starbucks”
Just don’t expect to learn anything about the Gospel.