Starbucked A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture [Little, Brown]

A DOUBLE TALE

TALL OF

CAFFEINE, COMMERCE, AND CULTURE

$25.99 $ 2 9 . 9 9 in

HOW

DID

O N C E S E A T T L E B E C O M E

Canada

S T A R B U C K S , A

M O D E S T

C O F F E E H O U S E ,

A N

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

J U G G E R N A U T ?

WHAT

MADE

THE

COMPANY

so beloved that more than forty million customers visit every week, yet so loathed that protesters have sabo­ taged and even firebombed its stores? And why did Americans suddenly become willing to pay $4.50 for a cup of coffee? Starbucked is the first book to explore the incredible rise of the Starbucks Corporation and the caffeine-crazy culture that fueled its success. In the past fifteen years, America has transformed into a nation of coffee gour­ mets, largely due to the ever-expanding influence of one company. Starbucks didn't just upgrade our taste for coffee; it altered our everyday lives, from our evolving neighborhoods and workplaces to the ways we shop, socialize, and self-medicate. Through a cast of charac­ ters that includes coffee-wild hippies, business sharks, slackers, Hollywood trendsetters, and more, journalist Taylor Clark tells the story of why an American cultural movement converged on a simple black beverage and of how a tiny Seattle coffeehouse rode this wave to riches, adoration, and infamy. Starbucks is nothing if not a magnet for controversy. To some, the green mermaid logo represents a reliable source of caffeinated comfort. To others, it conjures im­ ages of starving coffee farmers and leveled rain forests, minimum-wage slaves and dying independent businesses. In Starbucked, Clark provides an objective, meticulously reported look at volatile issues such as gentrification

and fair trade, which distress activists and coffee zealots alike, and shows why many of the things we think we know about the coffee commodity chain are false. Starbucks doesn't just sell lattes and scones; it sells a way of life, and America is buying it. Whether you're a regular customer of the chain or a caffeine teetotaler, Starbucked will make you stop and think about how this country gets its daily fix.

Taylor C l a r k

is a former staff writer for the

Portland, Oregon, alt-weekly Willamette Week. A graduate of Dartmouth College and a Pacific Northwest native, he lives in Portland.

JACKET

DESIGN

JACKET

PHOTOGRA....

CREATIVE. AUTHOR VISIT

»Y J U I I A N N A

PHOTOGRAPH

IN

itw

MICROZOA/THE

OUR WEB SITE

PRINTED

.

Frappuccino, 81-83, 9> Furlong, Edward, 8

2 1

4

gentrification, 1 4 9 - 5 1 , 1 5 3 - 5 7 Gimbl, Chris, 132,133-34 global expansion anger at, 143, 252, 262-63 anti-American sentiment, 259-60 in China, 257-59, 261 concessions to local culture, 253, 256, 259 cultural conformity to Starbucks, 250-51, 253, 255 desire for Starbucks Experience, 256-57 foreign opinion of Starbucks, 260 goal, 1 1 , 1 1 5 , 248, 249-50, 251-52 homogenization, 251, 263-64, 271 in Japan, 252-53 in Paris, 247-50 rate of, 133 in Saudi Arabia, 256 in United Kingdom, 131, 253-56 Gloria Jean's Coffee Bean, 36, 7 1 , 1 0 6 , 126-27 gourmet-coffee industry. See specialtycoffee industry Great Good Place, The (Oldenburg), 78 Griffiths, Roland, 221 Gross, Daniel (union organizer), 144-45, 229, 239-40 Gross, Daniel (writer), 260-61 growers. See coffee growers growth. See expansion; global expansion

Habibi, Saifullah, 257 health concerns calories and fat, 224-25 coffee as poison, 217-18 effects of caffeine, 200, 202-3, 218-19, 221-24 Hear Music record label, 104 Heckler, Terry, 41-42, 45, 63, 68, 95-96 Hilsenkopf, Carol, 155

293

Index Hometown Advantage, The (Mitchell), 152 Howell, George, 29, 3 6 - 3 7 , 1 0 7 , 1 3 0 Hyman, Herb, 3 7 - 3 8 , 1 3 1 , 1 6 2 - 6 3

II Giornale, 61-63, 97, 98n Illy, Ernesto, 204-10, 225 image. See also advertising and merchandising; Starbucks Experience coffee aroma, 103,104 crafting of, 88-89, 94~96> ~ 4 > 6 cup-size language, 97-99 employees' roles, 235 experience-focused design, 103-5 logo, 42,45, 68, 95 music, 104 quotations and quasi-poems, 12,102 touch zone, 104 International Coffee Organization, 169-70 102

1 Q

Jackson, Janet, 217 Japan, 252-53 Jeffrey, Robert, 145 Joe magazine, 110 Joy of Coffee, The (Kummer), 60

Kahle, Lynn, 261 Katzeff, Paul, 36,197 Kerrigan, Jim, 237-38 Kersch, Sheri, 54 Kilborn, Craig, 118 Kingsley, Charles, 149 Kinsell, Kirk, 89 Klein, Naomi, 93,166 Knox, Kevin, 9, 69,128,147, 213 Kummer, Corby, 60,166 Kvetko, Ed, 35-36

Late Show with David Letterman, 49 Laurier, Eric, 10 Lévi-Strauss, Claude, 270-71

Lincoff, Audrey, 241 Linder, Staffan, 75 lingo, 66, 97-99 logo, 42, 45, 68, 95, 256 London, 26-27, 253-55 Lopez, Gerry, 264 Los Angeles, 37, 71-72

Mach, Jean, 44,45, 262 marketing. See advertising and merchandising Martin, Steve, 72 Massey, Wright, 100-105 McCurdy, Brooke, 7 0 - 7 1 , 1 0 1 McDonald's, 126, 248, 264 McGuckin, Nancy, 123 Milanese espresso bars, 51-52 milk-and-coffee drinks, 59-60, 215, 255 Milletto, Bruce, 98,165,166 Mitchell, Stacy, 152 Mizrahi, Yves, 117 Monaghan, Joe, 58,167 Moore, John, 122, 236 Morgan, Brenda, 86

National Coffee Roasters Association, 17-18 National Confederation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, 174 National Public Radio, 113-14 neighborhoods blandness and homogenization, 152, 157 gentrification, 149,153-57 mom-and-pop neighborhood plan, 148,152 opposition to Starbucks, 149-51, 156-57, 269 New Brand World, A (Conlon), 91 New York, 6 , 1 1 3 , 1 2 0 - 2 1

O'Brien, Conan, 144 O'Keefe, Tom, 87,127-28, 266 Oldenburg, Ray, 78-79,155

294

Index against Schultz's Sonics management,

Olsen, Dave, 61, 67, 70, 76,179 O'Malley, Martin, 154 Oppenheimer, Jana, 68-69, opposition. See protest Osorio, Nestor, 1 7 0 - 7 1 , 1 7 4 , 1 8 2 , 1 8 4 - 8 5 , 186,193 overseas expansion. See global expansion Owens, J'Amy, 263

1 3 5

2 1 2

Puckett, John and Kim, 125 Putnam, Robert, 77 quality consistency of, 215-16 cuppers, 206-7 espresso process, 205 lily's techniques, 207 paradox of civilization, 271 roasting process, 208-9 of Starbucks coffee, 201, 211-16

Paris, 23, 246-50 Peet, Alfred, 32-34,40,44, 60, 212 Peet's Coffee and Tea, 33-34, 60, 63, 106,129-30 Pelley, Scott, 263 Perry, William, 31-32 Philo, Chris, 10 Piccolo, Sammy, 233 Pilon, Michael, 111-12 Pinaud, Dawn, comments on competitors' success, 164 employee devotion, 67 Parisian coffee, 251 Schultz's personal qualitites, 57, 58, 129,237 Starbucks's success in Los Angeles, 72 Polanco, Anthony, 241 Polgar, Alfred, 77 Postrel, Virginia, 89 Poulsen, Troels, 234 Pour Your Heart into It (Schultz), 52, 57 Prescott, Samuel Cate, 17-19 Prince, Mark, 211-12 protest

real estate development, 87,114-20, 128-29, 5^- See also competitors, tyrannization of Reynolds, George, 112-13 Reynolds, Jim, 56 roasting process, 44, 70, 208-9, 3 5 Roberts, Harry, comments on Café Starbucks concept, 110 chaos at Starbucks headquarters, 71 Chicago expansion, 69 coffeehouse experience, 92 competitors' difficulties, 127 logos, 95 neighborhood protest, 156 San Francisco expansion, 130 robusta coffee, 2 8 - 2 9 , 1 8 4 - 8 5 , 1 9 6 - 9 7 Rogers, Greg, 82-83 Romenesko, Jim, 7 8 , 1 0 6 , 1 3 7 - 3 8 Rozin, Paul, 224 Rubinfeld, Arthur, comments on competitors' success, 165 legal vices, 266 McDonald's McCafés, 126 neighborhood protest, 150-51 real estate development strategy, 116-17,118,121,159-60 ubiquity of Starbucks, 123 1

2 1

allegations and grievances, 1 1 - 1 2 , 143-46 antiglobalization, 143, 262-63 in China, 257-58 deflection of, 194-95 disregard for, 150-51, 256 against logo, 68 neighborhood hostility, 148-51, 156-57, 269 for purpose of publicity, 145 against Schultz's pro-Israel remarks, 260

Saez, Engle, 1 1 0 , 1 1 5 , 264 San Francisco, 129-30

2

95

_ 1

Index Scheumann, Roger, 5 6 - 5 7 , 1 6 0 - 6 1 Schoenholt, Donald, 19, 31, 34-35, 38, 106,119 Schomer, David, 165, 205, 210 Schultz, Howard acquisition of Starbucks, 3-6, 63-64 autobiography, 52, 57 background, 53-55 charisma and motivational skill, 48-50, 56-57, 97,136, 236 competitiveness and drive, 58,128, 160-61 convictions, 84,135-38, 265 on creation of coffeehouse industry, 167 design of stores, 100,105 dismissal of criticism, 137,146-47, 263 emotional style, 49, 57, 96-97 employees, concern for, 67-68, 237-38 espresso bar concept, 52-53, 57, 59-60 expansion, global, 1 1 , 1 1 5 , 248, 249-50, 251-52 expansion, in U.S., 4-6, 69, 71, 85, 99, 264 II Giornale ownership, 61-63 image management, 94-96 initial interest in Starbucks, 55-56 micromanagement, 71, 85, 94,105 miscalculations and failures, 109-10, 135, 260, 265 on quality, 212-13 resistance to menu changes, 81-82 on Starbucks Experience, 256, 265-66 on unionization, 238-39 Seattle, 45, 66-67,132—34,143 Seattle Coffee Company, 131, 253-54 Siegl, Zev, 40-42, 44, 56 Silverstein, Michael, 76 Smith, Orin, 9, 81 Sobczak, Frank, 243 Specialty Coffee Association of America, 9, 38,163-64 specialty-coffee industry appeal of specialty coffee, 39, 76 benefits to growers, 196-98

criticism of Fair Trade, 191-93 size of, 9, 36, 84,163-64,168 Starbucks's effect on, 131,167-68,196 start of, 35-38 trade show, 64-65 Stafford, Penny, 162 Starbucks. See also Schultz, Howard; specific issues initial public offering, 74 original company, 40-46, 60 sales and revenues, 9 , 1 0 6 - 7 , 1 1 0 , 264 store counts, 4, 84,105,114, 265 Starbucks Center, 132-34, 236 Starbucks Experience cozy atmosphere, 91-93 imitation of, 89 international appeal of, 256-57 loss of focus on, 264-66 store design for, 100-105 third-place concept, 78-79 Stewart, Jim, 28, 36,163 Stroum, Sam, 63 Substance of Style, The (Postrel), 89 Svenson, Scott, 131, 253-54

Talboy, Gary, 44, 45, 201 Talen, Bill, 262-63 third-place concept, 78-79 Thompson, Robert, 67,138, 267 Thun, Matteo, 206 Trading Up (Silverstein and Fiske), 76 Tran, Phuong, 234, 235 TransFair USA, 172,190,193 Traw, Kelly, 164 Tully's Coffee, 87,106,127-28 Tunstall, Jeremy, 250 Turkish coffee culture, 22-23

ubiquity. See expansion Underhill, Paco, 107 unionization company hostility toward, 230, 241-42, 243-44, 245 grievances, 229-31, 239-41 Schultz on, 238-39

296

Index Vallée, Robert, 154-55 Vaszquez, Reynaldo, 187-88 Viennese coffee culture, 23-24

Wendelboe, Tim, 233 Wild, Antony, 171 Williams, Mary, 195

Yang, Dori Jones, 58 Wagner, Rebecca, 179-80 Wahl, Art, 6,117,129 Walters, Tom, 220-21 Weintraub, Norman, 159

Zarcone, Thomas, 31-32 Zhang Ziyi, 259

297

ABOUT

THE AUTHOR

Taylor Clark grew up in Ashland, Oregon, and attended

Dartmouth

College. After college, he began working for the Portland, Oregon, alt-weekly Willamette

Week as a freelancer and then a news staff

writer. Clark lives in Portland and his tastes in coffee run toward a good Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. T h i s is his first book.