Starbucks and their ilk always struck me as a little ridiculous, a small sign of America’s debt-fueled over-affluence, selling coffee 4 to 6 times more expensive than homebrew. Well, like so many other things, fancy coffee is cooling fast as people clutch their dollars close to their chests.
Today, Starbucks reported that sales per store are falling. Caribou Coffee and Tim Horton’s have done likewise. But those companies also report bagged coffee sales are still strong, meaning people are making it, but at home.
4 Comments
I’m just waiting for energy drinks to drop in price.
QT has pretty good coffee at a reasonable price.
not to mention Diet Dr. Pepper.
Oh, come off it. You’re swallowing Starbucks’ “woah-is-me” sob story that’s trying to scapegoat the general economy for all their problems. That’s what they want you to believe.
What they don’t want you to know is that competitors offering $4 lattes — such as Starbucks’ progenitor, Peet’s Coffee & Tea — are continuing to post handsome quarter-over-quarter profit growth at the same time Starbucks is blaming the sky for falling:
http://www.worldteanews.com/index.php/20081031328/Business-/-Financial/Peet-s-Keeps-Up-Growth.html
Fancy coffee is plenty fine. Just that Starbucks wants you to believe their problems are external, not internal.