Why Starbucks? Howard Understands Why!

So I received a number of interesting emails and Twitter messages yesterday basically asking me why I was so fixated on Starbucks. Well without going into too much detail about my "great idea" let me explain.

You see Starbucks became a trusted friend as I started my second company. Call it caffeine induced delirium or my just plain craziness, Starbucks became a favorite early morning haunt of mine in the late 1990's. As I began my second company I did not sleep much - if at all. I was constantly worrying about closing the deals we needed to close in order to keep the lights on and people employed. With worry comes stress and with stress comes panic. I realized, much to my amazement, that panic when it sets in so much easier to control and extinguish when it happens in public. It is so much better to handle panic and stress by drinking a no foam latte and eating a sweetroll than it is hiding behind a dark desk in the wee hours of the early morning.

Starbucks became somewhat of a respite from my stress. I could stop by there on my way to the office, grab a cup of coffee and actually force myself to think about my business with each long sip of dark roast. The environment was laid back and instantly made me feel comfortable so I began stopping by more and more - okay I admit it...daily. Sometimes I would even stop by during the middle of the day just to catch my breath and to relax. Somehow stress seemed to never want to follow me inside a Starbucks I assumed because the smell of the sweet coffee aroma is somehow its kryptonite equivalent.

Starbucks you see became my little sanctuary, my little space. A place I could come and hang out and let my creativity flow. It was where I first started pounding on my keyboard - first penning a new strategy for my company then more compelling proposal formats. Soon my writing turned to more personal issues like journaling and even creating some pretty interesting fictional stories and poems. No matter what it was, a little caffeine, the environment, a little soft ambient jazz playing in the background, my creativity just flowed.

And I like so many millions of Americans began to drink the Starbucks Kool-Aide.....oops I mean coffee!

Something else happened at Starbucks. I met people. I started having amazingly interesting conversations with complete strangers and loving it. Me and introvert....can you believe it? It was incredible the random faces you would see day after day but oddly enough after a period of time didn't seem so random anymore (see how I becamse a Starbucks Stalker Series). I realized very quickly that Starbucks had a real sense of community in the people that frequented their favorite locations. It was a community I took pride in being a part of.

Any of the articles you read about Howard Schultz's vision revolves around having passionate customers and creating community. His desire was to create a space where people could interact and connect. I think they hit that concept very well early on but today there seems to be less emphasis on it - at least here in Austin and several of the other cities I have traveled to recently. Today's Starbucks there is something missing and when I read they need to close 600 stores and layoff 12,000 workers I wonder, could this be part of the reason why?

Sure there are still people around and the rich aroma of coffee roasting in the back still permeates throughout, the sense of community and connection seem to be gone. People that hang out don't talk to one another - they are too busy plugged into their iPods or using their laptops almost as a shield to fight of approaching conversation (sad really). Employees seem less enthusiastic and far too quick to make you feel inadequate for failing to say a complicated drink correctly. Stores are becoming smaller and there is no real draw to stay and so you see many more people grabbing their drinks to go.

Where did the community vision go?

I am not really sure. But I know we can get it back. We can make our local Starbuck's stores our own little communities again. We can make it both hip and cool to want to connect with others and why not do it over a little cappuccino?

Imagine the Ripple!

Howard the offer still stands...I'll buy the first cup!

Ripple On!!!