From Hong Kong to Paris to Miami to Seattle, if you have visited one Starbucks, you have visited them all.
Similar menus of coffee-based beverages served in paper cups. Identical furnishings that ensure a standardized coffee experience the world over.
Now, the Seattle-based coffee giant is trying to break the mold by establishing a “stealth” cafe in the city’s trendy Capitol Hill, an apparent experiment in going back to basics to attract new customers.
In a neighborhood dotted with one-off coffee houses with unique charm and established baristas familiar to loyal customers, Starbucks last week opened “15th Avenue Coffee and Tea,” a corporate version of its independent neighbors.
The building — the former site of a traditional Starbucks — is now a plain-looking structure with minimal signage.
The only time the company is mentioned is on a small sign etched on the entrance that says: “Inspired by Starbucks.”
Inside, there are no baristas in green aprons, no Formica counter tops, not even the standard menu board. Instead, the walls are of weathered wood, the tables and chairs unmatched. Coffee is served in ceramic cups and many utensils look like they were purchased in a second-hand store.
The chalkboard menu of familiar drinks and food are without prices.
Imported and handcrafted beer and wine are available. There is piped in music and Wi-Fi, and promises of live music and poetry readings in the future.
The branch, apparently designed to lure a more discerning coffee-drinking customer, comes as Starbucks is shutting the doors on hundreds of stores worldwide and shedding thousands of jobs.
Yet whether the “stealth Starbucks” experiment works remains to be seen. Despite crowds filling the tables, local afficionados seemed unimpressed.
“I have been through this with them before,” said Kismet Kaine, who was walking along the street drinking coffee from nearby Cafi Ladro.
“I used to get coffee at Terrafazione before Starbucks bought them up,” she said. “The coffee was never as good after that. I can’t see why I would go to this place. I found just what I like at Cafi Ladro.”
Less than a block from the 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea location sits “Victrola Coffee Roasters,” a funky neighborhood haunt filled with art deco furnishings, art, wi-fi, music and coffee, pastries and sandwiches.
Manager Tonya Wagner says she finds it interesting that her corporate competitor would attempt this concept in a neighborhood that has a full complement of unique coffee houses.
“There are a lot of places in the Seattle area that would readily accept a place like the 15th Avenue Coffee House,” she said. “They have attempted to reinvent themselves like this before and it didn’t work.”
Starbucks, which has declined interviews about the concept, has said it is planning to open two more coffee shops without its name in the Seattle area.
Wagner, who has been at Victrola since 2000, thinks Starbucks may be trying to find its place in a market that is squeezing it from above and below.
“They went for the middle ground,” she said. “They wanted to serve a lot of people a good cup of coffee quickly. That worked for a long time.”
“Then the economy went sour and along came McDonald’s serving coffee drinks cheaply and quickly. A lot of customers have gone there,” she said.
Wagner said that higher-end customers have gravitated to small coffee houses specializing in gourmet coffees and unique ambiance.
“Even in this economy, our sales are running 15 percent ahead of a year ago,” she said.
She also thinks that Starbucks doesn’t understand the concept of a neighborhood coffee house.
“This is a culture that comes from the bottom up,” she said. “We know the customers, we use local talent and art that fit the community. I don’t think you can do that from a corporate headquarters.”
A few hundred meters down the street, Courtney Howard, the manager of Cafi Ladro, is not worried about the new competition.
“In today’s economy, everybody’s trying to stay afloat,” Howard said.
“If they’re trying to go back to the neighborhood feel, I say more power to them,” she said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique