Mountain View Coffee Shop Employee Punched and Tip Jar Stolen
An employee of a Mountain View, CA Starbucks coffee shop was punched in the face Tuesday while trying to stop a thief from stealing the store’s tip jar, police said.
The employee, who was 19 years old, was leaving the Mountain View Starbucks, located at 1390 Pear Avenue after his shift when he saw someone exiting the building with the tip jar, according to Liz Wylie, the spokswoman for the Mountain View Police Department. When the employee ordered the man to stop he began running and the employee began running after him. When the employee caught up with the thief in the parking lot at 1625 Space Park Way, he was met by four or five of the thief’s accomplices, according to Wylie, who said the theirf moved toward the employee and “clocked him in the face.” The employee only sustained minor injuries. The men escaped by driving off in a red four-door Japanese car.
Police said that tip jars have been stolen from two other Starbucks stores in the area. Police do think these incidents are related.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12616725
Starbucks Recalls Coffee Grinder
Starbucks is voluntarily recalling approximately 530,000 grinders sold between March 2002 and March 2009 under the names of Starbucks Barista Blade Grinder and Seattle’s Best Coffee Blade Grinder .
Three incidents have been reported where the consumer received lacerations while cleaning their grinder. There have been 176 reports of the grinder turning itself on and off unexpectedly. Consumers should immediately stop using the grinders and contact Starbucks for a free replacement grinder at 866-276-2950 or look online at Starbucks Coffee Grinder Recall
Starbucks Overcharges Over One Million Customers
Starbucks had a little bit of trouble over Memorial Day weekend. Over one million customers were overcharged for their coffee drinks on Friday, May 22nd and Saturday, May 23rd.. How much? They were charged twice for each purchase. The charges were accidental and due to a computer banking glitch. Starbucks is working diligently to correct the problem and reimburse the customers who were overcharged on their debit and credit cards. May customers do not know that they have been overcharged because the overcharged amount did not appear on the Starbucks receipt. It does however show up on the customers credit card statements.
Zaget’s #1 pick for Fast Food Coffee
Zaget’s has made its pick as to who is number one when it comes to fast food coffee. No surprise, Starbucks is the winner, beating McDonalds and their McCafe’s. As you already know, McDonald’s was hoping for the top spot. It was not to be. However, YouGov’s BrandIndex shows that McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts both beat out Starbucks in terms of perceived value.
In response Starbucks is pitching a new campaign to celebrate their ranking. The ad campaign is straight forward stating simply “Zagat says we’re the country’s No. 1 best coffee. Actually, you said it, but Zagat repeated it (which is nice)” They are also planning to appear at least once on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
Starbucks, which posted its first-ever fiscal loss in August 2008 and has financially struggled since, continued slumping in the second quarter of its fiscal year 2009. The company reported consolidated net revenues of $2.3 billion, a 7.6% decrease from Q2 2008.
Starbucks Sticks v. Nescafe Sticks
Starbucks came out with the Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Stick packets and then, as always, some one else comes along to create competition. Who is that competition? Nescafe Taster’s Choice, who vow that their instant sticks are more flavorful than Starbucks, but perhaps most importantly in this economy, they claim to be four times cheaper. You read that right 4 times cheaper that Starbucks Sticks!
The Chicago Tribune found that, on average, one packet of Nescafe costs 19cents per packet as opposed to Starbucks which costs approximately 83 cents per packet. The price is obviously much better, but what about the taste? The Tribune also conducted a blind taste test with six testers to find out if the money you are saving is equal to the flavor you may or may not be loosing by getting the cheaper product.
The test included not only the the Colombian of both brands of sticks, but also a brewed Colombian. No surprise, the brewed coffee won hands down, but that is not what we are concerned with. Back to the sticks!
Starbucks Sticks came in a close second followed by Nescafe. One person thought that Starbucks were too bitter and sharp. Most tasters described Nescafe as being thin, weak or like cardboard.
When mixed with cold water for iced coffee, Starbucks dissolved easily. Nescafe also mixed well, but do to the larger granules required more stirring. So now its time for you to decide, is the flavor worth the cost??? That is the million dollar question.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/chi-tc-food-tastings-0605-0610jun10,0,129961.htmlstory
From Coffee House to the Big House
A man in Flagler Co., Florida was shocked when he was arrested during a “harmless” coffee date with his mother on Sunday. Its seems that mama’s baby boy tired to rob the local Starbucks while he was having coffee with her. This is what I call “multi-tasking”.
Craig Warner, 34, tried to yank the cash register away from the counter at Starbucks. When his plan failed, he ran across the street to Walgreens hoping to find “greener” pastures. While inside Walgreens, he injured a lady while trying to steal her purse from her. He has been charged with Robbery and Strong Arm Robbery by Sudden Snatching.
Warner’s mother told police he was on his way to the Doctor for a checkup and that they decided to get coffee on the way. Its unclear as to what the “checkup” was regarding.
Explosion Rocks Starbucks in NYC
A sidewalk bench and window of a Startbucks were shattered after an explosive devise went off on the Upper East Side of NYC. No one was injured. Police are investigating to determine if the explosion was related to other explosions in Manhattan. Terrorism is not expected at this time.
To read more, please see http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/nyregion/26blast.html?ref=nyregion
Make a Copy of Starbucks Gingerbread Latte
Starbucks Gingerbread Latte copy
1-2 shots espresso and very strong (fresh) coffee
8 ounces milk, steamed (with a little foam) (if you do not have a steamer, you can make foam with a hand whip.
Add a tablespoon of gingerbread syrup either by making it yourself as I have shown you in the previous entry or by purchasing a like product that I also listed for you in the previous post.
Pour the syrup into a mug and add the espresso and then the milk. You can top with whipped cream if you so desire but do not forget to sprinkle a bit of nutmeg on top the foam or topping to make it just right. Comparable to
Starbucks Gingerbread Latte
. Enjoy!
Sweeping Up The Espresso Beans At Starbucks
Update: I have now learned that this particular store is one of those that has been closed. Could be a good indicator as to why no one ever contacted me back. hmm..
Is your espresso from Starbucks a bit on the crunchy, gritty side lately? I may have the answer for you. Isolated event, totally. So don’t run out of the store crying, my BEANS! my BEANS!
There was an incident the other day at Starbucks and I have debated on writing about it. Still, I will not say exactly which Starbucks store it is since I am yet to receive a call back from the store manager about the dirty deed. I will however, tell you the story.
A few days ago I stopped in at the Starbucks in a neighboring town. I ordered a grande coffee and they were making a fresh pot and mentioned it would be a couple minutes. No problem I say, I have to go to the ladies room anyway. So, I did.
After exiting the restroom, I stopped by the mugs and gadgets as I always do (I love them) and the espresso grinder they use is just out of site from the coffee wares. While I was in the ladies room, I heard something drop but I did not pay any attention to that at the time. Well, I looked over to the area where they grind the beans and I didn’t see anyone around. I started to make my way over to the counter when up popped the employee that waited on me holding a dust pan with, what else, espresso beans in it.
What do you think she did with those beans? Throw them in the waste? NO! She dumped them into the dispenser! OMG! I was out of view and she was not aware that I saw it. Since I had ordered coffee that I know came from a sealed pouch, I went ahead and paid for it noting the cashiers name. I called the next morning and told the manager. He said he would get back with me on the issue but so far, nothing. My next step is to contact someone higher up.
I hope this is not a regular thing going on. I’m quite certain that it is not but people you never know where your coffee has been. Do you? Post a comment if you have had a nasty mishap at any coffee shop.
Note: For the spamming cretin that insists on stopping by from time to time and leaving his/her little fatuous comments, of course I know that espresso beans do not exist and that it is simply a roasting process. You are obviously an inarticulate imbecile and I am being nice about it.
Think There’s No Profit in Selling Coffee? Think Again!
I always figured the price I paid at the store was not much higher than that which a large coffee selling company would pay. Sure … it’s not. Wrong.
Here is an example:
Starbucks reported paying a higher price per pound in 2007 compared to the year before. A penny more per pound. So… I guess that can add up considering how much they sell. But… what did they pay per pound?
Starbucks bought 352 million pounds of coffee in fiscal 2007, according to its report. That’s up from 294 million pounds in 2006.
Starbucks paid an average price of $1.43 a pound for coffee in fiscal 2007!
I would love to go to the store and pay that. Good grief! I don’t know but that appears to be a pretty wide profit margin considering what they charge for a cup and that we are paying nearly $4 a pound. You think?
Note: Even though they are up $48mil in poundage from the year before, they are still needing to close down shops due to profit loss.
Starbucks says: We pay $1.43 a pound, we sell it back to you for $10 a pound! hmmm….
# 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. Can be seen at: Fast Company Article title: Coffee + Cash
Win a Case of Starbucks French Roast Coffee
I am guessing that it will be French Roast since that is what they have pictured. Here is the ENTRY FORM
They say:
Enter to win a a case of 72 2.5 oz packages of Starbucks Coffee!! You don’t want to miss this unheard of opportunity to get FREE Starbucks coffee!! Give it a try and tell your friends! Each convenient portion pack is pre-measured to brew one pot of coffee, and you can win 72, $151.80 worth of coffee!!
So, stop on by. You never know, you may win!
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