True Story, it is a little strong for me as well, however when you add creme or I like to add steamed 2% it is really good.

True Story, it is a little strong for me as well, however when you add creme or I like to add steamed 2% it is really good.

I've never added cream, perhaps i should try it. I prefery my coffee black. If I am not in the mood I get a triple venti mocha or a caramel machiatto.

For those of you interested, I came across this article last week. The map shows Starbuck's stores across the US that are rumored to be closing.

Business & Technology | Confirmed, rumored U.S. store closures | Seattle Times Newspaper (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/flatpages/businesstechnology/locationsofstarbucksstoresclosingacrossthenation.h tml)

True Story, it is a little strong for me as well, however when you add creme or I like to add steamed 2% it is really good.

Yup, its the Pike Place, and yes, I suppose I like mine stronger than everyone else. For years, I thought strong meant too bitter (so I made it weak, which was my first mistake) until I kinda learned how coffee was supposed to work, and actually strong coffee has a sorta sweet taste to me. My wife tells me I like it as strong as her grandfather did ("walking out of the cup" is the term she uses), and my mom says I like it like my grandmother did ("cut it with a pair of scissors" is her term). So I realize I'm in the minority, which is why I figure Starbucks blew off the Bold after noon. Oh, well, no biggie, I'll survive; my wife knows how to doctor it up the way I like it from home....and I'm sure Starbucks won't miss me.

Actually, Panera's dark variety isn't bad, but they change it out so often that I got out of the habit of buying it because the flavor changes so much. I like consistency. I'm "brand loyal," I guess. Once I find something, I stick with it, which of course means it instantly has to be changed....don't know what business guru came up with that, but I'd like to smack him or her with a dead fish...

I wish they would all close

Google Maps used to track Starbucks closures | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone - CNET (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9986513-2.html?hhTest=1&tag=blog.2)

Just a reminder, to keep the Starbucks closings in perspective; they opened 1700 stores last year alone. Closing 600 now could be seen, and is basically the same, as their having opened only 1100 stores last year. They're not going anywhere.

I work for Starbucks and probably have access to better information than a Del City barista.
Officially closing:
122nd and Penn. Should have been at May by Jamba where Winston McDoogal's is, they would have had more of a chance.
May and Memorial. I don't think anyone knew it was there.
Del City. Goes without saying.
Ponca City.
SW 98th and Western. Yet one more store too many on the Southside.

I work for Starbucks and probably have access to better information than a Del City barista.
Officially closing:
122nd and Penn. Should have been at May by Jamba where Winston McDoogal's is, they would have had more of a chance.
May and Memorial. I don't think anyone knew it was there.
Del City. Goes without saying.
Ponca City.
SW 98th and Western. Yet one more store too many on the Southside.

Why aren't those listed in the Seattle Times constantly updated list?

On edit: Well, they are on the list. Here is the Google map for Oklahoma City store closings from the Seattle Times.

http://img37.picoodle.com/img/img37/4/7/14/f_sbuxm_b97267a.jpg

I work for Starbucks and probably have access to better information than a Del City barista.


What exactly is that supposed to mean?

Well, that store is kind of in a no-man's-land when it comes to the info chain. The DMs are constantly in my store and i think for the most part our store is more open to sharing information among levels of management than a lot of other stores are. while i don't doubt that you know what you're talking about it just works out that usually stores higher on the DMs list of priorities will get more info, so don't be surprised if the "sinking ship" mentality comes into play in your store and you hear less and less about what's going on.

SW 98th and Western. Yet one more store too many on the Southside.

I'd like to invite you to explain that particular comment...the reactionary side of me said it was a slam on south OKC, but the rational side of me wants to give you a chance to 'splain yourself before I do anything rash, like roast you....which would be manifestly unfair without giving you a chance to clarify.

The only Starbucks on my side of town are at I-240 and Penn, and then way the heck south in Moore. The brand new one on Western is closing, so that leaves the other two. How is that "yet one more store too many on the Southside?"

Well, the Del City store lost the majority of their business as soon as the MWC store opened about 2 miles down the same street. So I think the lesson upper management learned from that experience was that sort of density and proximity don't work as well as they do on the north side or the "consumer hell" of Edmond. My theory is that a majority of southsiders commute and so either highway stores (ie 240+Penn) or stores at their destinations get the majority of the business. The point is I think they either oversaturated or just didn't use location to their advantage (no stores off I-35).

full list:

http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/USStoreClosureInfo.pdf

I'm a bit surprised that they aren't closing the store at NW Expressway & Rockwell or NW Expressway & MacArthur, seeing as they are slightly over a mile apart. also I'm a little surprised that they are closing the one at Santa Fe & Danforth... I don't even think I've been to that one, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't do well. plus, that will make the nearest Starbucks about 4 miles from there, which is quite a distance when you remember that it's Starbucks that we're talking about.

122nd and Penn doesn't surprise me though...I really don't know what they were thinking when they opened a store in that location. it's not the nicest part of town, very few typical Starbucks customer types (unless you count the rich kids that go to Heritage Hall...there's probably another Starbucks on the way there for most of them though.) plus obviously there's another one a mile up Penn.

Well, the 2 Starbucks I frequent 90% of the time are closing. The one at 15th & Santa Fe is not a surprise-- it was rarely busy. It has been open less than a year. The one Memorial b/w May & Portland is a shocker. I go to this one multiple times weekly, and it always busy during 7-6 M-F. Sometimes when I see 7 or 8 cars in line at the drive thru, I decide to go in, only to find 6 people in line ahead of me. I just don't see how this store doesn't make money. I am beginning to wonder if this list of 600 includes some profitable stores for some reason. My guess is the only way this store doesn't make money is if they are getting taken to the cleaners on rent (based on their location on Memorial).

At any rate, I plan to only visit Starbucks on the closed list from now on in hopes that others will do the same and maybe a few of them will be saved. I doubt it will make that big a difference since I was already going to them....

FYI, Oklahoma City is a test market of sorts for a "happy hour" thing through early September. Any grande cold drink (iced latte, frap, smoothy thing-- whatever it's called) is only $2 after 2pm. This will increase my afternoon Starbucks runs the next few weeks.

Well, the Del City store lost the majority of their business as soon as the MWC store opened about 2 miles down the same street. So I think the lesson upper management learned from that experience was that sort of density and proximity don't work as well as they do on the north side or the "consumer hell" of Edmond. My theory is that a majority of southsiders commute and so either highway stores (ie 240+Penn) or stores at their destinations get the majority of the business. The point is I think they either oversaturated or just didn't use location to their advantage (no stores off I-35).

Nice theory, but you're missing a critical point - the only Starbucks on the south side of Oklahoma City near a residential area was that very one they're closing at 92nd and Western. It couldn't possibly have had a chance to prove itself yet. If they'd installed "surgical strike" Starbucks near the neighborhoods with the highest probability of repeat visits (like they did on the northside), they'd have been fine. Translated - yes, lots of southsiders commute - but the "endpoints" get the business because there wasn't an alternative. I frequented the 98th and Western location numerous times and was delighted to have it close by. Now I'm back to just I-240 and Penn.

An ideal spot for a Starbucks would have been near the Chatenay Square shopping center - an upscale retail area that hosts a *very* successful Panera Bread operation - or even a bit farther east around an area called Palagio, or farther south at 119th and Western - all better locations than 92nd and Western, in my opinion.

I will NEVER know why Starbucks opted to open in that desolate 29th street space. That spot has never been very successful, and that particular street was, in all honesty, not a spot for a Starbucks. That's the "strip" of fastfood places where people in the Tinker and satellite areas run to grab lunch, not to get $2+ coffees. Conversely, I have no doubt the location in the new mall east of their will do fabulously.

But, then again, Starbucks blew me off when they stopped brewing bold after noon, so I guess I really shouldn't care anymore. What Starbucks doesn't realize is that when I got my urge for an afternoon Starbucks Bold, it was usually accompanied by a couple of creme drinks for the kids and a mocha for my wife, so my $2 impulse often turned into a $12+ tab, and now they've lost all of it. To me, that comes under the heading of "cutting off ones nose to spite ones face..."