With over 10,700 Starbucks cafes in the US, it seems like you can find one on every corner in downtown. After this recent article about Starbucks new game plan to start selling alcohol in over 25 locations by the end of this year, may not sound like a typical coffee shop. Although this idea may seem great, I personally think it is a terrible idea for Starbucks. Starbucks is trying to expand it’s target market and pick up more customers during the slow times. However, many other names already have their name in this market. People think Starbucks when dealing with coffee, and people think bars, pubs, liquor store, grocery store, 7-11, and many others when liquor and alcohol is brought up. It will be hard to change the mentality of the consumers that Starbucks also serves alcoholic beverages. If Starbucks joins, it already has very many competitors with alcohol and will be hard to get it’s name out. In addition, coffee and alcohol are not complimentary goods. People seem to need coffee daily to get their work doe, however, few have this mentality that alcohol will do the same. Lastly, costs of serving alcohol may be greater than the revenues coming in. For example, the costs of getting licenses and training costs will go up. Although i respect Starbucks for trying to bring something new to the game, I truly believe it will hurt them more than it will help them.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-23/starbucks-to-add-alcohol-at-more-cafes-to-lure-evening-customers.html