Bye, Bye Baristas
An In-Store Starbucks Wasn't Open for a Few Weeks. I learned the complex reasons why!
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This is setting up to be my career path it looks like after years of trying to figure it out. More to come.
I haven’t paid full price for a cup of coffee in years. No, this 40-year old doesn’t take advantage of the “Senior Coffee” option on the McDonald’s app, though it is a good idea, because what defines a senior anyway? I have seen people my age looking 65 all the time. Drink water after your coffee, folks!
I just know how to look for coupons. No, I am not going to show you how to do that, because you won’t share your savings with me, but let’s put it this way, downloading your apps, sharing your info with these companies will net you some discounts, free birthday coffees, and free cups with purchase of food or first sign-up. It’s really quite easy.
One of the things I was looking forward to pre-Covid was the opening of a Starbucks inside my neighborhood Albertson’s on N. Main St. here in Las Cruces.
One day in Winter 2019, I saw cashiers and other works move heavy shelves, and one person said, “All this for a fucking Starbucks!”
His back pain was my best moment that day. I don’t have to be in a long line for coffee at the drive-up Starbucks anymore. I am always at the store (that couponing/ibotta thing I do - Download the Ibotta app and get $10 free) and I can even sit there and enjoy my coffee when I wanted to get out of the house.
Then COVID happened, and for the next 2 years(!!!) the seating was closed at the in-store Starbucks. I have never seen anyone ever use the tables there. Ever. Weird.
But the shop opened, and it became a staple to my week. Every other week at random, a couple of my families accounts will get a $2 grande drink on the store’s app, and I save $4 on something I enjoy. It is sweet. So every other week, it is something I look forward to.
Cut to this summer. I am experiencing the final days of my 2006 Jeep Liberty. The cooling system finally died in June. I need to replace EVERYTHING so I am just selling it for parts now. One of the things also broken was the A/C. It was 105 degrees and it was hot as hell 2x a week coming back from donating blood.
One of the things they tell you when donating blood/plasma is to NOT have any caffeine for 4 hours. I almost always followed that rule, but there were times stopping at the store that I would use my $2 coupon to get a big Starbucks lemonade to quench my thirst along with a water bottle.
I go in one day at 9:30am. I am sweaty, parched, and needing something cool. I walk into the store and see this sign on the sliding glass door.
“DUE TO STAFFING ISSUES, STARBUCKS WILL NOT BE OPEN TODAY. SORRY, MGMT”
MGMT being management and not the 2000s era band who sang the minor hit, “Time to Pretend”
So, as a consumer advocate, and a person who managed a bank, I understand stuff comes up. Kids get sick, you have a test you have to take for school…whatever. I get it. Life happens, and even big business SHOULD be empathetic. But let’s not kid ourselves. People understand, but they still want their GODDAMN COFFEE!!!
There were 3 people milling around the closed Starbucks totally PISSED off. You can tell they likely have coffee mugs like this at home.
One lady complained to the person on the floor by Self-Checkout. What is she going to do? Go back there and whip you up a latte?
It was minor chaos, if you may pardon the oxymoron.
No biggie for me. I would just go home and have a Sprite. Lemonade was just a bonus for me.
What did the MGMT do wrong in this situation that made the customers pissed?
You immediately plant the seed that as “MGMT” you can’t handle a simple staffing issue of placing one person behind that counter to make coffee, and that some people probably think all the people in the store should be cross-trained. It doesn’t work that way.
Now, if you put “DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL, STARBUCKS IS CURRENTLY CLOSED. MANAGEMENT” on a sign, then it looks like it is bigger than even you.
Maybe there was a COVID outbreak, a measles diagnosis with a member of a barista’s family. Maybe there was a recall notice on the espresso machine where it causes third degree burns and Starbucks said to halt making coffee until they fix it.
Yes my version of the sign can lead to a million more questions, but the manager instead kind of threw themselves under the boss by exposing the lack of foresight to have someone ready to fill in at the drop of the hat. Manager may have thought they were going to get sympathy. Nope. People don’t care. Only weirdos who like to say, “No one wants to work anymore,” which may be a bit true, would defend them.
So, like I said, it wasn’t a big thing. I was in Dallas the first week of July, and then the second week, I lost my Grandpa. Now is the time I guess to mention my book about him will be out on November 13th. More on that next blog. So I got back to my regular shopping routine about the 20th.
I walk into the store, $2 starbucks coupon in hand on my app. There is no one there at the in-store. No signs. Nothing. Lights are off. Self-Checkout person, who I am cool with all of them were busy, so I didn’t get to ask. What the hell is going on? Surely it is not closed down, right?
Customer Experience Tip: If you can’t be available to speak directly all the time to let people know what it happening, a simple sign saying “Temporarily Closed. Sorry for the inconvenience.” would be helpful and limit upset customers. I wasn’t mad, but I am sure more than one person came and left unhappy with no clarity as to how and why their time was wasted. This is the closest Starbucks for a huge chunk of Las Cruces’ population, mind you.
Two days later on a Saturday, I just got done donating blood, and I was going to get an iced coffee and chill at home. The effects of caffeine when drained of blood is akin to a marijuana buzz according to some people. I don’t know, I don’t do any of it. Coffee is it for me.
9:40am, I walk into the store to get lunch for later and get my Starbucks, and ANOTHER GODDAMN SIGN.
“DUE TO LACK OF QUALIFIED STAFF, STARBUCKS WILL BE OPEN AT 10AM. WE REGRET THE INCONVENIENCE.”
Now, my brain leads me to a bunch of questions. First one, “There’s a qualification process?” Second one, “Why did you not qualify them?” Third question was, “Why didn’t the qualified person come in two hours earlier for my drink order? What’s their problem?”
Again, ex-bank manager here. There’s an explanation for everything, but that sign creates a window into the world where people you don’t want to be in your house will be climbing in. They want to know why YOU, THE DAMN MANAGER DID NOT HIRE ‘QUALIFIED’ PEOPLE! What kind of worthless manager are you? Then they do the one thing that sucks the worst, they belittle the job. “What qualifications do you need to pour coffee? Ground coffee, water, sugar, milk, a stirrer, and a smile. That’s it. WTH?!?!”
I walked by the Starbucks about 10 minutes to open as I was checking out, and there were 3-4 people looking at their watch, staring at their phone F-ING PISSED OFF! It was wild and full of tension. Plus knowing there wasn’t any coffee brewing, it would probably be 10:15 before anyone got anything. I went to go check out, and one of the self-checkout people I talk to a lot was there, so I asked him finally after weeks.
“Hey, so what’s up with Starbucks? It’s always closed, and people over there seem so mad.”
He said, “Oh, they should be open in a couple weeks once (person’s name) gets back from Arizona. She’s taking over the Starbucks here and moving from the (other) department.” (I know the name and old department, but I don’t want to call her out.
I say, “Wait, why Arizona?”
So, he explained that Albertsons/Safeway makes Starbucks managers in their store go to Phoenix for training, and there they get “certified” by either Starbucks or the store to run it. So it’s this big-ass elaborate training session.
When I got hired as a bank teller, they gave me a binder and made me read it in a cold boiler room in Socorro, NM. These baristas get an all-expenses paid working trip to learn how to make coffee and be the best version of a manager. It was crazy, but it made sense. and I think a lot of people should look at that role differently, in my opinion.
Then I asked, “Well, why was it closed for weeks on end?”
He said, “Everyone quit at the same time.”
Immediately, my manager instincts kicked in, and I knew that the manager somehow was the root cause of all the turmoil at this store. The reason why I said that is it is very rare for everyone on the staff to quit at the same time, particularly if they never see each other because of different shifts. So did the manager fire everyone and decided that Starbucks would take a big 1000s of dollars haircut in the process? I guess so…
Everyone doesn’t work as one unit like the Brady Bunch. One person quitting unexpectedly is another person’s getting more hours to save for a car. Something happened…
So, I understood finally. It was right around that time that someone leaked the Starbucks recipe guide online.
Then it makes more sense to me how much damn training is needed to do that job. Hell, bank managers don’t even get that much training.
Learn to upsell products
Say customers name 3x in conversation
Shake hands with eye contact
There. I showed you 3 tools on how to be a $80k/yr bank manager. You are literally a figurehead doing nothing, meanwhile, these in-store baristas are being taught Starbucks drinks and their shorthand by the Fucking Jon Gruden of coffee!”
Some people work wayyyy harder than others, and I appreciate that. As a former bank manager as unstimulated with work as a 40-year sexless marriage, I appreciate people caring about their craft!
So, things were starting to get a little better at in-store Starbucks world. I would walk in the store a couple times the next week or so, and they would still be closed, but there were 3-4 people behind the counter sampling drinks they were making at the machine. Hands on coffee training. Of course, there’s no classroom, it was all in front of customers who would walk by and be pissed that there was no coffee on sale that day…Again.
But I was impressed at that slice of how they learn. Like I said, I am easily impressed.
About two weeks later, the stars finally aligned, and I could go finally get a $2 grande coffee on my store’s app!
I buy some frozen items at the grocery store first. Ice cream bars, waffles, and I also bought some sour cream. Pay for it, and I go stand in line at 7:20am for coffee.
7:25
7:30
7:36
7:41 and I am still 3rd in line. There was 5 of us. My wife was asking me when I’d be home, and I felt guilty not bringing her a coffee or letting her know it was available at all yet. Sorry, Sweetness. It was a spur of the moment decision.
She made coffee at home, for the record.
Finally at 7:45am, I get to order. 25 minutes after I got there. Cold Brew with Salted Caramel Foam.
Takes another 10 minutes. Take a quick sip of it. UGGGGHHHHH! Tastes like cleaning solutions. What the hell?
After seeing those poor people get yelled at for the long wait times and taking their time, I didn’t want to join in the chorus, so I just left. They’ve been through enough already.
It was tangy and gross. I googled what that was:
Why is my cold brew tangy?
If it is sour, it may mean you are not getting enough extraction. A coarser grind will make this worse. Grind finer or let it brew longer.
My waffles got soggy. My ice cream was melting and my sour cream was warm. Gross. It was a disaster of a visit.
So they were still learning. It was then I learned how Starbucks can be taken down by a mass exodus of staff, and a hard look needed to be had as to why it happened. That was the first time I ever dumped a full coffee for taste in all my years. I was due I guess.
To close out this story, I noticed on the receipt to my grocery store that they have a new “Store Director” who appears to be very hands on with her job the first few times I have seen her. At least, that’s how they all act when they start new.
The week before this change? Starbucks randomly closed on a Friday morning at 8am. No sign letting people know what was going on leaving people ticked off. Did they all “quit” again?
I wasn’t going to buy coffee that day…but I did ponder a new mug purchase online.
-James