Front page story in today’s Seattle Times: Starbucks on 15th is reopening soon as “15th Avenue Coffee and Tea”. Didn’t we hear that news around here on CHS, say back in June?
Somewhat ironic that the Seattle Times article also reports that Starbucks executives was snooping on (and emulating) local businesses:
Victrola Coffee Roasters saw the Starbucks people a lot more often.
“They spent the last 12 months in our store up on 15th [Avenue] with these obnoxious folders that said, ‘Observation,’ ” said Victrola owner Dan Ollis.
He thinks it’s interesting that they spent all that time in his shop, which serves wine and beer, then applied for a liquor license to sell wine and beer at 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea.
Can we expect the Seattle Times to start getting more like CHS soon?
Haven’t noticed anybody with observation folders around CHS HQ. Yet…
Though I also never noticed the SBUX crowd in Victrola and spend enough time there that I probably should have.
My wife reports seeing people sitting outside Victrola with printed-out spreadsheets on clipboards a couple of times recently when walking past at dinnertime.
it’s interesting that “we heard the news” in CHS comments rather than in a CHS post. And the bit about the clipboards in the Times seems like a pretty good get. Such a rich tapestry, this internet — media news ecoverse of ours.
Pretty sure that in this comparison CHS is me making coffee at home. The Seattle Times is a local business, so as much as it breaks my heart to have to admit this, Starbucks would seemingly have to represent my beloved New York Times…
They’re going to be a stealth-Starbucks with a fake name?! That’s some bullshit right there.
I understand rebranding, but this is a little weird. Cap Hill folks are fairly sophisticated consumers – it’s not like we won’t know its just Starbucks in an indy t-shirt. This might be a good thing if Sbux uses their 15th store to pilot new eco-friendly products, but otherwise….just odd.
Not sure why the downvote here but that was also on my mind as I read Andrew’s post. I’m happy open sourcing the news. It’s a ding some of the old schoolers will have against CHS and form definitely follows function but I think it’s cool that this story was reported ‘first’ by the crowd here at CHS. Nice work.
Making coffee at home that you share with friends. That’s nice.