The latest blend: coffee, movies & books
Posted by TheShot on 13 Jan 2006 | Tagged as: Café Society, Consumer Trends, Fair Trade, Starbucks
Are Starbucks and Borders destined to become mirror images of each other? Today’s San Diego Union Tribune asks that question in: The latest blend: coffee, movies & books.
You have to wonder about some market extensions and product/service mergers. One of my favorite storefronts to mock is in a dumpy strip mall as you pass through American Canyon, CA — called “Pagers & Footwear”. But the blend between entertainment and coffee is a potent one for companies extending their product lines in either direction.
Does everyone drinking coffee want books and CDs? And does buying media naturally mean, “Would you like a double-tall, four-pump vanilla caramel macchiato with that?”
Wal-Mart and Target seem to think so, as they are also muscling into the coffee trade from the retail entertainment world. In fact, according to my favorite coffee buyer, Alex Mason of Royal Coffee, the availability of Fair Trade, decaffeinated specialty coffee beans is drying up a lot lately. Why? Wal-Mart is buying up the stuff like Hugh Hefner during a Viagra shortage.
UPDATE: January 22, 2006:
If it wasn’t obvious enough that Starbucks is starting to think of itself more as an entertainment company than a coffee company, their recently announced plans to offer MP3 downloads should make things more clear: Starbucks, Citing Music Industry `Chaos,’ Eyes MP3 Downloads
UPDATE: November 12, 2006:
With WiFi networks becoming more common, Starbucks even sees itself in the market of creating a taste-making entertainment channel: There’s more than coffee brewing at Starbucks – Orlando Sentinel : Features There’s more than coffee brewing at Starbucks – Orlando Sentinel : Features.
UPDATE: April 25, 2008
If it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear now: Starbucks has jettisoned its music business as it attempts to regain it’s “soul” in its neglected coffee business: Starbucks exits music biz | The Register.
4 Comments »
[...] First, Starbucks Coffee continuously seems to fashion itself as an entertainment company rather than a worldwide chain of coffee houses. Today they announced a relationship with the William Morris Agency (WMA). Yes, the agency that once represented Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley — and today represents many of their modern day equivalents — is jumping in the coffee sack with the company-formerly-known-as-Starbucks, who just brought us the movie Akeelah and the Bee this past weekend. [...]
[...] They offer a bit of window counter seating, some minimal table seating in the back, and plenty of outdoor table and benches among “Please Do Not Feed The Birds” signs in the Potrero Center. There’s a “Peet’s At Home” retail wall at the entrance, and, like some other Peet’s, they play the classical music tape loop overhead. (Though unlike Starbucks, it’s not for sale.) [...]
[...] Starbucks, the chain formerly known as “Starbucks Coffee” that was once known as a coffee company, is apparently seeking to continue their evolution towards a general retailer: All Headline News – Starbucks To Step-up Non-Coffee Sales – July 10, 2006. [...]
[...] As I mentioned in a previous post, earlier this year, decaffeinated Fair Trade and organic specialty beans were being bought up en masse by the likes of Wal-Mart. Although I never buy decaf coffee for myself, I typically buy it for caffeine-free friends who come over for dinner (and most often I buy Stumptown decaf beans from Ritual Roasters). And I have noticed that the quality and variety of decaf beans have become much more appealing. When I have good decaf left over, now I don’t hesitate putting it in a stovetop espresso maker or French press. [...]