Starbucks Being Risky

So this is old news to any truly trendy folk who get drinks at Starbucks, but recently they completely changed the staple of their business-the daily coffee. Instead of offering two or three of their custom blends from day to day they switched to a standard blend for every day, the Pike's Place roast, both regular and decaf. So if you go in to Starbucks for coffee (what a thought!), you have one choice-unless you come before noon when they brew one special blend. They also increased the sizes of coffee you can buy (two smaller sizes, actually) and they offer a caffe aulait option of their Pike's Place served with steamed milk (not a latte, mind you).

I'm not decrying the new coffee choice. It's not as strong and tasty as most of their other blends but I really can't complain. There's just no other coffee shops around that even compare, so I'm still a Starbucks man. What I think it interesting is the choice that Starbucks made to make this change! It seems risky to me to almost 180 their coffee offerings and really shake up the regulars' sense of continuity. What it says to me is that Starbucks is pretty confident in their place in the world of coffee. They have just a little fiscal security to make a risk like this and see if it's popular. And the great things is Starbuck's determination to keep all of their stores the same, so the Pike's Place wouldn't great in New York but really wonky in Alabama. They can make huge changes like this and because of their monopoly status they can just say tough cookies to anyone who doesn't like it. I like that, though. I like seeing some changes and risks happening. It shows creativity, growth, rethinking and money-saving for the company, ultimately.

And luckily, I like the coffee.