Love is many things. Most importantly it is a verb requiring action. Love is also an emotion and a sense of fulfilment. When it ends, love is painful. Star nearly destroyed me recently. But I’ll survive and be strong for it. In the end, I was just a john and she a corporate whore.
The end came swiftly on a wet Tuesday morning. As she aroused me with a kiss around 7 a.m. Her breath had the familiar and delicious flavor with subtle notes of chocolate and toasted nuts. She was so wet and warm my heart beat quicker as soon as my tongue touched her. Life was wonderful again.
Little did I know that would change in a couple of hours.
My grande Pike Place in hand, I crossed 19th St. to happily serve the people of the United States. About two-and-a-half hours later I returned to Ms. Bucks for another session. I was doubly excited about the second cup because refills had hitherto for been just 55 cents making starbucks Coffee the most affordable brew in the nation’s capital.
Betrayal
After refilling the cup I had bought from the store months earlier, the cashier asked me if I had left the store. Of course I had. I worked across the street. Upon picking up my coffee around 7, I staggered across the street to drink the magic elixir before serving the public—just as I had for years before.
Then she said those hateful words, “That will be $2.59.”
How dare them! Starbucks made me and millions of others caffeine addicts, selling us three cups of coffee a day for less than $4, and now they demand close to $7 for the same amount. Over my dead body they will! Let us not forget the lack of business and government productivity as the chain carefully placed itself in sites sure to disrupt the free world through its drug should a shortage occur.
Bottomline
Aside from losing my business, the corporation’s latest quarterly financial report was weaker than expected. Starbucks earned 55 cets per share of stock on $5.66 billion in revenue, but analysts expected $5.75 billion. Shares fell more than 6 percent following the announcement as a result. Starbucks still expects to provide stockholders with more than $2 per share in profit on the year, but downgraded estimates by three o4 four cents.
The company is attempting to rid itself of most of the tea shops it bought in 2012 by early 2018. However, a shopping center operator has sued claiming Starbucks is shirking its contractual obligation.
Starbucks owns 379 Teavana stores in shopping malls. Starbucks financial report says 350 of those stores are having problems. Seventy-eight Teavanas have leases located in Simon Property Group Inc.-owned malls. Only two leases end this year. Simon seeks injunctions preventing Starbucks from closing the stores. The action is filed in Marion (Indiana) Superior Court. Teavana has four stores in the area.
Starbucks is also dumping its on-line stores. Items are currently half price at the site. Starbucks plans to close the site Oct. 1.
