Save Our Starbucks: The Campaign
So I was walking down 15th Ave. E. this morning and passed a TV camera setting up in front of the 15th and Thomas Starbucks, one of the seven Seattle locations that is closing. There were two people grinning anxiously at the prospect of talking on camera, and one of them called out to me as I scurried past, "Sign a petition to save the 15th Avenue Starbucks?"
I'm in the middle of Buying In, a book by Rob Walker, whose "Consumed" column is always the first thing I read in the New York Times Magazine. Walker's book on "murkiting" focuses on the ways that brands and consumers' identities are merging, and how tactics like viral marketing, sub rosa corporate sponsorships, and smart design (i.e., iPods) are succeeding at getting customers to buy in to brands more effectively than any of us would imagine.
A grassroots save-our-Starbucks petition campaign fits right in with Walker's theories. Sure, Starbucks is trying desperately on every front to reassure nervous investors, shed underperforming stores, and respond to consumers who are once again seeing their daily $4 latte as a luxury, but the company is also reminding all of its customers not to take their local for granted: that Starbucks isn't just a massive corporation, it's a part of their daily life, and they'd better treasure their own Starbucks experience or it'll go away. All these petitions are garnering an awful lot of free press, thanks to customers who are desperate to share their love for the brand on television, the Internet, and print.
When I talked to one of my coworkers about my response to the 15th Ave. petition, she said, "This petition campaign seems too coordinated to not be corporate sponsored."
I disagree. Not only because I've been reading Walker's book, with its tales of viral-marketing volunteers sharing "the good news" about new brands with their friends simply because they want to be part of something larger than themselves, but because my mother is a regular at the Crown Point, Indiana, store. When I reported to her the first news of the closures, her first response was, "I'll be heartbroken if they shut down mine," and she's not prone to hypberbole. Two weeks later, when the final list came out, I didn't have the heart to tell her when I spotted her store on it. (She doesn't read this blog, so I'm still in the clear.)
I foresee a reprieve for the stores that get the most customer love/advertising — say, 20 or 50 of them. What does it hurt Starbucks, after all, to keep a few of the 600 open, since each of the "winning" stores is bound to see an upsurge in business for at least a couple more years?
As for me, I didn't sign the petition — I've made my peace with the 15th Ave. store closure. After all, there's a kiosk in the Safeway across the street.
6 comment(s)
d says:
i thought the kiosk was closing, too. not that i care with the multitude of coffee options on 15th.
what i don't understand is the craigslist ad for a starbucks barista & manager job fair. http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/fbh/767704842.html
if they're closing so many stores, shouldn't the employees be relocated instead of hiring new ones?
Posted On: Thursday, Jul. 24 2008 @ 3:40PM
Jonathan K says:
I know the kiosk in the Safeway at 22nd and Madison is another one of the 7 Seattle locations on the list. Is there new news?
Posted On: Thursday, Jul. 24 2008 @ 3:45PM
d says:
you probably know better than i do.
i don't go to starbucks, i forgot there's another kiosk over there.
Posted On: Thursday, Jul. 24 2008 @ 8:09PM
seadevi says:
Starbucks is a full cafe at the Safeway on 22nd & Safeway - not a kiosk.
Posted On: Thursday, Jul. 24 2008 @ 10:32PM
Eric says:
Jonathan, the important issue is why in Seattle you would go to any Starbucks at all.
Posted On: Friday, Jul. 25 2008 @ 10:53AM
Ben Rip says:
@ Eric Note: From the tone of this piece it doesn't seem that Jonathan actually goes to Starbucks regularly, but that he happened to be walking along 15th Avenue E- which is full of restaurants and small businesses in that area.
@ d- The Safeway operated kiosk inside the 15th & John store has no plans to close, as far as I know. However, yes, the rather pleasant full cafe @ E 22nd and Madison that just happens to be connected to the Safeway is scheduled for closure. Bums me out, only because it was one of two options for espresso in our neck of those woods.
Posted On: Friday, Jul. 25 2008 @ 3:11PM