Coffee and Coffins

The Robinson Funeral Home in Easley is the dead center of town, and people will soon be dying to get there for more than the obvious reason.

The funeral home and crematory is adding a new section to its existing facilities named "Coffee Corner," where a Starbucks will open.

The owner, Chris Robinson, explains how coffee has always been part of the family business, saying his great-grandfather started the funeral home inside a main street general store, (what?) where people would gather and drink coffee.

Okay then.

Starbucks wants you to enjoy "fruits and vegatables"

One of the images that Starbucks is using to promote the Evolution Fresh juice bar has a sign that reads "Most fruits and "vegtables" are: fat and cholesterol free." 

Yes, that big sign spells "vegetables" incorrectly.

Not a big deal, but after all the fuss about Starbucks Evolution Fresh juice bar and the healthy smoothies and premium juices, and that the company sent press materials to media outlets everywhere, it's a little embarrassing.

The sign is now gone and a new sign reads: "Bananas are loaded with potassium — a natural electrolyte." 

Starbucks has had a problem with spelling before.

For over a year Starbucks told customers it was offering “complementary” (that's when you say nice things, you know, a complement) Wi-Fi — the correct spelling is "complimentary."

But what do we know? We misspell words all the time.

Starbucks ransacked by bum

A Starbucks cup of coffee turned out to be more than anyone ever expected.
An angry bum ransacked the Starbucks because people refused to give him money.

Okay, that's not the guy in the photo above, but it's a good visual nevertheless.

When he failed to get any handouts, witnesses said he became really agitated and started screaming at people.

He shattered a glass counter and threw coffee and other items all over the cafe.

He then ran out of the store, but was later arrested by police. Even while sitting in the police , the suspect was nodding and shaking his head, and even licked the car window.

Camera Found in Starbucks Bathroom

Our next story is about Starbucks and a hidden camera.
A Virginia man says when his daughter used the bathroom at the Starbucks in Penn Quarter, she saw a hidden camera pointed directly at the toilet.

So, a civil has been filed by William Yockey against the Starbucks coffee location at 7th Street Northwest, blocks from the National Mall. (photo below)



Yockey said he was with his his family when they stopped in the Starbucks.
Yockey said his daughter went to use the bathroom and while
washing her hands, Yockey said his daughter discovered the camera.

The camera was a small, Coby brand digital video camera, placed in the U-shaped drainpipe. The lens of the digital camera was pointed towards the toilet.
Yockey said the camera was still on when he pulled it from beneath the sink and brought it to the Starbucks manager to confront her. He said the manager seemed shocked and called the police to investigate.
But she did offer the dad a free cup of coffee, really.

After the D.C. police arrived, the bathroom was roped off, and the camera was taken as evidence in a criminal investigation.

Yockey wants $1 million in the civil suit on four counts, including invasion of privacy and emotional distress.

"Myself, I can't go to a public restroom without giving it a thorough scan," Yockey Said. "My daughter is 5, it's embarrassing that she has to look for a camera before she uses the bathroom."

Starbucks released the following statement on the incident:
"We take our obligation to provide a safe environment for our customers and partners (employees) very seriously. Our store partners took swift action as soon as they became aware of the issue -- immediately alerting the police department and assisting in the investigation. We continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement on this matter; however, because there is pending litigation, we cannot comment on the specifics of this case. However, we can tell you that as a part of regular store operations, we monitor the seating areas and rest rooms in our stores on a regular basis to identify potential safety or security concerns."

The five year old's mother is still furious and there're suing Starbucks because they failed to clean the restroom and failed to do the most obvious kind of checks for hidden cameras.

"It's completely unethical. It's disgusting. And the fact that the manager didn't know what to do. 'I don't know, would you like a free coffee?' is really really pathetic," she told she said.

The camera captured a blurry, unidentifiable image of the man who may have placed it there. Police haven't been able to find him.

The girl's mother said about her lawsuit: "It's not about money. It's that they need to take a stand and do what's right and take care of stuff."

But they'll take the money just the same, if they win.

Starbucks Sued for Firing Dwarf

While the Starbucks Coffee Company wants to stand tall, they have paid $75,000 to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to settle a lawsuit for denying a reasonable accommodation to a woman who happens to be a dwarf.

Elsa Sallard also claims she was fired from her job as a barista because she is a dwarf.

Sallard told Starbuks during a training that she could use a stool or stepladder to do her job.

The manager at the El Paso Starbucks apparently didn't like stepladder idea and on the same day that Sallard made the stool request Starbucks terminated her employment, claiming that she would pose a 'danger' to customers and employees."

Starbucks says: "Using the stool in that environment just wasn't a reasonable accommodation in that store.

Starbucks also says, that the woman was hired on a trial basis. After three days, the store manager decided the work was too physically demanding for her to perform.

So, Starbucks is dammed if they do and dammed if they don't.

Society applauds Starbucks for giving the dwarf woman a chance, but now the price for that decision is $75,000, we wonder, would they do this again?

Starbucks has a new look and angry customers

Starbucks just may be the most famous coffee name, but something has happened and it's upsetting their loyal customer followers.

Starbucks has presented a new logo that doesn't include its name or the word "coffee", and customers are furious.

The new green logo is pretty much Starbucks' interpretation  of a female siren -- a half-human mythical temptress who led sailors to their deaths.

"Even though we have been, and always will be, a coffee company and retailer, it's possible we'll have other products with our name on it and no coffee in it," Chief Executive Howard Schultz said.

The last time Starbucks changed its logo was in1992.

Starbucks fans are not happy, and they left hundreds of comments on the Starbucks' website, demanding the company's name to be put back into the logo.

"Who's the bonehead in your marketing department that removed the world-famous name of Starbucks Coffee from your new logo? This gold card user isn't impressed!" wrote one customer who identified herself as MimiKatz.

Another wrote: "I have been a big supporter of (Starbucks) since the early days, taken expensive rides in taxis to get my morning coffee, even waded through two feet of snow in my business suit ... but I do not see the logic of your Business Development folks for the removal of the Starbucks name."

"I think it's nuts," said James Gregory, chief executive of brand consulting firm CoreBrand. "What's it going to be -- the coffee formerly known as Starbucks?"

The new logo probably will not hurt cafe sales in the near term because most Starbucks customers are enthusiasts, Gregory said. But, he said, a nameless logo was a bad fit for Starbucks products sold by grocery stores and other retailers.

So, Starbucks has removed its name and the word "coffee" from the logo they print on their cups. and this infuriates customers.

The question that we are really interested in, why do customers care?
Why are they so angry?
Okay, so Starbucks loses the name and the cup doesn't say coffee, big deal.
Yet, customers are really unhappy about this, why?


Could it be that these customers have always enjoyed flashing around the cup with the Starbucks name on it?
Could it be they want people to notice that they are drinking Starbucks, not because they believe it's the best coffee, but because they just want to be noticed?


The coffee will still be the same coffee, it's just that cup that's different.
What is it about that cup?
What does the cup with name and logo mean to these people?
Do they parade around with that Starbucks cup because they want people to think special things about them?
These customers want people to know they drink Starbucks, because somehow it makes them feel special.

Are they no longer going to feel special, drinking the same coffee in a different cup?
What are they going to do? 

It's Not Just Coffee, It's Starbucks, and Burger King

It starts as summer ends, Burger King will start serving the Starbucks-owned brand Seattle's Best Coffee.

The cup of brew replaces Burger King's BK Joe coffee  and will be available by September.

Mary Boltz Chapman, editor in chief of industry trade magazine Chain Leader says, "You can't do breakfast anymore without a decent cup of coffee."

Expect to pay between $1 to $2.79, depending on size for a cup of coffee, hot or iced, along with optional vanilla or mocha flavor and whipped topping.

For Starbucks, the coffee chain is developing a strategy for the Seattle's Best Coffee chain that it acquired seven years ago.

"Together, with Burger King, we are making premium coffee far more accessible than it has ever been," says Michelle Gass, president of Seattle's Best.

Starbucks VIA vs Brewed Coffee Reviewed

Coffee Cup News did a blind taste test on Starbucks new instant brew and Starbucks regular brewed coffee.
This is a great site for coffee lovers!
So, which is it, instant or regular brew?
Watch the video review and find out: Coffee Cup News.

Carly Simon Sues Starbucks over her 2008 Album

"Starbucks did more than its fair share to help the album," said Chris Bruzzo, Starbucks' vice president of Carly Simon's 2008 album.  Carly Simon is suing Starbucks anyway, saying the coffee company's now ended music venture didn't do a good job promotng her 2008 album, making her album dead on arrival.

But let's face it Carly your career was only alive during the 1970s and '80s with hits like "You're So Vain" and "Anticipation," and, we can't think of any others. 
But she can't be bothered with those small details, and is seeking "unspecified damages" (money) connected to the release of the 14-track "This Kind of Love" (cover seen below) in April 2008.

In the lawsuit filed  Simon and her attorneys said the album wasn't available in "a substantial number" of Starbucks stores during the key early months following its release. Later, when the disc was stocked in Starbucks locations, the Seattle-based company slashed the price.

"By doing so, Starbucks stigmatized Ms. Simon's album as an album that could not be sold at full price," according to the claim.

In a statement issued Monday, Starbucks said it met all its contractual obligations and even extended the amount of time it promoted the album in New York and Boston.

"Unfortunately, sales continued to lag as the title received tepid response from music consumers," Starbucks said. "Other retailers faced the same fate with this CD."

Simon blamed the lack of interest in the album - which has sold only 124,000 copies, on a decision by Starbucks days before the album's release to end its involvement in Hear Music, a joint venture with Concord Music.

As for the unhappiness with how those albums sold, Bruzzo said, "Every artist brings a different level of expectation about how well something is going to sell in our stores. We humbly offer it to our customers, and our customers either buy it or they don't."

Starbucks in an Instant

Starbucks predicts that their new brand of instant coffee, called VIA "will change the way people drink coffee.  We've heard talk like this before.
"With a $21 billion global instant coffee business, and instant coffee representing 40% of overall global coffee sales, we believe Starbucks is uniquely positioned to capture a significant share of this market," said Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz, in a statement.
As we have discussed in earlier posts, Starbucks has been in the coffee wars with rivals such as Dunkin Donuts and McDonald's as coffee drinkers have become more price-conscious.
We don't want to necessarily be the barriers of bad news for Starbucks,  but coffee purists generally look down on instant coffee because it's regarded as inferior compared to brewed.
Starbucks proclaims Via is made with 100% natural roasted arabica coffee and that it took 20 years to develop with a microgrind technology that preserves the taste of fresh coffee.

Via is sold in packs of three cup-sized servings for $2.95 or $9.95 for a 12 pack.


Starbucks has partnered with a number of other companies that could benefit from Via's travel friendly package. The instant brew will be available on United Airlines  flights of more than two hours, and at Omni and Marriott  hotels.

Dig a little deeper, that Frappuccino will cost you more

Starbucks prices on beverages like the ever so famous Frappuccino, are on the rise— and for simple ones like a plain cup of coffee, the prices will decrease.

You are looking at price hikes as much as 30 cents.

The more basic beverages — the latte and plain coffee, among others — will see prices decreased by 5 to 15 cents.
Still, more prices are going increase than the ones that will be decreased.

Starbucks said the price hikes will eventually roll out nationwide in the coming months.

The big question is how the changes will affect the customer base or will it be an attraction for new customers?

Is 15 cents worth of savings going to change any one's mind?

Will an additional 30 cents stop customers from their buying habits?

Starbucks Wins One

Starbucks has reason to cheer after a Zagat survey of national restaurant chains declared Starbucks has the best coffee. The president of Starbucks Cliff Brown was proud indeed,"We're honored that Zagat's coffee drinkers have selected Starbucks as the best tasting coffee in our country.

While Starbucks has something to crow about other coffee brewers like Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's have beaten out Starbucks according to Consumer Reports.
In a taste test of basic black coffee McDonald's stronger blend beat brew from Starbucks, Burger King and Dunkin' Donuts.
And October 2008, Dunkin' Donuts claimed its coffee beat Starbucks in a comparison-blind taste test.