Starbucks (SBUX): Another Quick Fix That Is No Fix

The latest mad plan by Howard Schulz and his executive team to fix Starbucks (SBUX) is to have stores grind beans each time they make a new pot of coffee. Apparently, the beans are only ground in the morning now.

According to The Wall Street Journal, current brewing methods mean “customers can be forced to wait, choose another type of coffee or leave the store empty handed.”

The current generation of managers running Starbucks, with the founder as CEO, has just figured out, after two years running the company, that its stores do not brew enough fresh coffee. That is an extraordinary revelation and says a great deal about why Starbucks has faltered. It is a company which was founded on good coffee but built on flashy stores and overpriced beverages and food. Now Starbucks wants to get back to its roots by eliminating the chances that its coffee may not be fresh.

As time passes, and students at business schools break apart and analyze what went wrong at Starbucks, they will probably all come to the same conclusion. Starbucks was a great place to buy and drink coffee. When it tried to be more than that its reputations started to suffer.

Douglas A. McIntyre