Walking into school on a rainy morning, students at Issaquah are seen walking into the
school with a cup bearing the unmistakable logo of Starbucks, an iconic, trendy, and fast growing coffee chain that America is obsessed with. With over 34,000 locations, students can
see a Starbucks on almost every street corner. Many people, however, are finally getting fed up
with the unwanted changes to their stores. Meaning, Starbucks is in trouble if it does not change
the issues with its faltering business.
Starbucks began with humble beginnings in none other than Pike Place Market in Seattle
in 1971. The founders, Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin, and Zev Siegl focused on high-quality
equipment and roasted coffee. The original Starbucks had no seating, and people would wait in
line just to buy fresh roasted coffee. After being taken over by Howard Schultz who focused on
making Starbucks a café atmosphere, Starbucks quickly began reaching milestones as new
locations opened all around Seattle. Starbucks became branded as a warm, cozy atmosphere to
get homework done, or catch up with friends, and quickly became an unstoppable force in the
coffee industry. Starbucks has been extremely popular with a variety of age groups, and even a
trendy brand for influencers to drink, increasing its prestige.
This year, in 2024, things are beginning to move in the wrong direction. According to
CNN, “Starbucks sales dropped 3% globally at stores open for at least a year, including a 2%
drop in its home North America market.” The consensus is that Starbucks has begun to stray
away from its humble beginnings in the search for more profit, and it is quickly backfiring.
According to Harvard Business Review, “Howard Schultz once again fired off a missive on
LinkedIn pleading with Starbucks’ current leaders to rediscover and embrace the company’s core
purpose, its reason for existence.” Starbucks has strayed away from its local roots, and instead
feels like a commercial chain: cold and unwelcoming. Starbucks has begun making changes that
anger the public, seen as taking away comfy seating, prioritizing mobile order customers, no
longer handwriting the customer names on cups. Though these factors may seem trivial, all of
these changes are contributing to the loss of what made Starbucks feel so inviting, so personal.
Customers are no longer excited to come to Starbucks, and influencers are beginning to promote
local coffee shops in their city rather than big chains. Another key reason people are beginning to
search for other coffee shops is the sky-high costs. According to MSN, “A new survey shows
that only 51 percent of customers believe that Starbucks is affordable – far below its
competitors.” If Starbucks’ own customers do not believe these prices are justifiable, Starbucks is
not going to experience the growth they are searching for.
As Starbucks continues to prioritize profitability over customers, people are beginning to
turn towards other cafés in their community for their morning coffee. Starbucks leaders are
desperate to make changes that will bring the company back to its roots of valuing community
and quality coffee above all. If they are unable to accomplish this, the most popular coffee shop
in America may begin a difficult decline.