hudgens ante-ups
February 26, 2008 – 4:41 pmleaving aside the sober implications of the mermaid closing for three hours today (how badly do their baristi need training?), it’s worth noting the nimble and complementary (with an “e”) approach of c-n-c’s hudgens, who’s serving all-free spro during the same time period.
on its surface, a tactical move to snag new customers looking for a fix with the virtues of superior taste … the meta-narrative, though, suggests a subliminal ante-upping. as in, “we may not be a global mega-chain, but we can sacrifice three hours of revenue too!” so there.
UPDATE: there are, um, alternate theories abounding about today’s Great Outage.
“2) Determine if the carefully selected music makes patrons feel as if they are having a genuine urban experience flavored with an indie spirit, or an indie experience flavored with an urban spirit. It’s a subtle difference, granted, and if anyone doesn’t understand, perhaps it’s time you found another job? Mmmmkay? Okay, baristas, does anyone know why we play free-form noodly jazz at 8:45 AM, even though the entire genre of music makes people think of smoky nightclubs were all the musicians wear sunglasses are refer to each other as “cats”? Right: because it makes people feel hip. We used to play happy shopping music at barely perceptible volume, but too many people asked if it was meant ironically.”
UPDATE: b-mag editrix sarah allen, of course, extrapolates the larger “clash” of coffee cultures getting so much press today … and the wave of top-tier establishments retaliating to the great outage with freebies.
5 Responses to “hudgens ante-ups”
I have been obsessively reading the various Starbucks employee blogs over the last few weeks. First off, remember– you are only a barista to the customer. To yourself and your co-workers, you are a partner.
Honestly, the starbucks-speak is a very scary hybrid of scientology and est. Lots of acronyms and coded “partner” language. The brilliant move was to not allow franchise owners. Everyone works for the organization, not for an individual location. No single partner works to improve a single store; all work is collectivized to reflect on the larger brand. And your store has to consistently turn $17K a week before the mothership will assign an assistant store manager, so only if you work hard enough in a Taylorized blur will they make the managerial allotment to make your life tolerable. Coffee of the Week selections are pre-ground up to 4 weeks in advance, and lots of partners are terrified that if they have to grind fresh every day they won’t be able to make quotas and either be shut down or loose staff. It’s very fascinating. Reading the accounts of the starbucks partner, I’m reminded of a WPA oral history that I once read: the guy on the assembly line was handed two wrenches so he could double his output on the line. The bosses then made him wear brushes on his shoes so he could scrub the floors while working the line. He knew he was in trouble when the bosses came back with the broom…
By true on Feb 26, 2008
fatal obsession with the mermaid, eh true?
that’s fascinating, really. and a basic lesson in, well, publicly owned global companies. i happen to work for one, and an “artisan” approach to the market simply isn’t very possible in such a setting. the lingo, the rules, the quotas, the margin-watching … all that is very necessary in a globalized shareholder environment.
good coffee, on its face, would appear philosophically opposed to such a profit-squeezing regimen. but it’s kind of impossible not to watch such a chain attempt to reconcile the values.
By bz on Feb 27, 2008
It’s worth quoting at length the typical response to the training by a partner who really buys into it:
I just got back from the training. Well, I got back an hour ago – the last hour was dedicated to excitedly telling my SO about it.
I’ve worked at two mainstream coffee shops previously. I was management in one, and a barista in another. NEVER have I seen such dedication to the customer, or such cleanliness! I wouldn’t drink coffee anywhere else after working with Sbux for three days. The training highlighted the main points -
Pulling the perfect shot. Yeah, it’s not the old style machines (which, naturally, I miss dearly), but they’re not totally flawed. The beans are ground seconds before being brewed. Everyone was given a refresher on what to look for in shot quality – timing being the most important, visual and flavor closing in at a second. Now, EVERY EMPLOYEE knows how to do it perfectly. NO EXCUSES.
Steaming milk. It’s going to be good – thick, creamy, ‘beautiful foam’- on top of your latte. NO EXCUSES.
Customer care. Letting you, the customer, feel comfortable enough to let us know if we screwed up in ANY aspect of your drink. Then, we can remake it for you. And make you happy. NO EXCUSES.
————
Here’s what is interesting to me. Anyone remotely interested in espresso knows that a 15-19 second shot is crap. Sbux, by pulling this stunt, has not only convinced its drones that they are pulling the MOST PERFECT SHOTS EVAH, they had the national stage for the last week to show the world that they are so committed to quality that they’ll shut down every store at the same time for retraining if they have to. I guarantee you that the marketing and accounting staff have detailed reports projecting the bump in sales tomorrow that will obliterate any loss from closing for a few hours during their least profitable part of the day. But more importantly, they are trying to control the quality narrative without actually having to delivery quality. The three hour stunt is a shot across the bow of the scaa, barista culture, and those very same indie shops that Howard was concerned about last year. If you can’t deliver the content, change the story.
By true on Feb 27, 2008
How the giant thinks… Posted from a SoCal store manager:
Also – to the partners out there – we ARE getting more time to make the perfect drink. Starting next week, each espresso drink earns 5 seconds more of labor. That averages about 35 hours of increased labor per week for the average store! Thanks Howie for backing up your commitment and promises to us with increased labor to make the best drink possible!
—
If I’m reading the bux-think correctly, the store manager gets to schedule an additional 5 seconds of labor for every espresso drink sold. The average 17K a week store will be able to add two part time partners (if they can maintain that volume). I don’t really understand how that helps to make the “best drink possible,” but it is oddly fascinating that they’ve quantified their staffing down the granulation of 5 seconds of additional labor for every shot sold.
By true on Feb 27, 2008
the best part is about shot quality: “timing being the most important, visual and flavor closing in at second.”
yeah, that flavor thing. isn’t there some sort of third-wave mantra about that?
fascinating stuff, true. thanks for sharing. the first thing i keep thinking is, “shareholders.” because when i see this kind of bean-counting disguised as quality improvement it makes me think the stock price must be under some pressure.
oh, wait …
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=SBUX&t=1y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
By bz on Feb 28, 2008