Starbucked
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
An American corporation is getting what it deserves. A wound in the gut and I think we should all watch it bleed. I know that is grotesque but frankly I don’t care and I’m loving every minute of it. mwhahahaha! Read here via drudge
Starbucks Corp. announced Tuesday it will close 600 company-operated stores…Starbucks is closing 19 percent of all U.S. company-operated stores that opened in the last two years…In total, the company forecast up to $348 million in charges related to the closures, $200 million to be booked in the fiscal third quarter ended June 30…The 500 more that will be closed had been on an internal watch list for some time. They were not profitable, not expected to be profitable in the foreseeable future, and the “vast majority” had been opened near an existing company-operated Starbucks,
This is where the logic of corporate America boggles me. Just like an addict that takes meth until his dying day, corporations consume everything is their paths with the single desire for growth despite an undesirable future.
Bocian said that between 25 and 30 percent of a Starbucks shop’s revenue is cannibalized when a new store opens nearby, and that the closures should help return some of that revenue to the remaining stores.
Market saturation does not equal profitability but often the beast that is a corporation doesn’t posses the wisdom to realize this. There are times when the best business plan that is the most sustainable and in the best interest for a corporation (including a church, or a food system, just thought I’d mention those because I feel strongly about those too) is a plan of non growth.
Just think about it. 600 stores that were not profitable because the vast majority of them had “opened near existing company operated Starbucks“. Starbucks is taking business away from itself. Genius! Think how many profitable locally owned coffeeshops that are sustainable and an important part of a community are closed when a Starbucks comes in town. They are devouring the locals and themselves. Cannibalism, makes you sick and spreads disease. Like I side they get what they deserve. 600 out of however many stores they operate is likely not that many but the reality of the money lost, lifes affected, businesses affected and just all the work that meant nothing is pretty sick. Want to open a coffee shop now?
