The Seattle Times: Coffee City

Starbucks seeks managers of social media, digital strategy

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:06:09 PST

These jobs are not to be confused with that of Twitter master, which Brad Nelson already has.

Both require "seasoned, digital strategists who are passionate about ideating." (Which may or may not be like George W. Bush's strategery or misunderestimating.)

Despite their silly verbs, the media team at Starbucks is serious. Once it decided to take Facebook seriously, the company quickly became its No. 1 brand; it has 521,899 followers (and counting) on Twitter, and the company now projects all Twitter posts (also known as "tweets") onto a wall at headquarters.

Here are further, very similar job descriptions for the social media and digital strategy managers.

(Thank you, David, for finding this!)

El Diablo Coffee on Queen Anne enters turkey latte art smackdown

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:38:42 PST

Maybe smackdown isn't the best word for a Thanksgiving theme? Then again, with 273 million turkeys "produced" (a.k.a. "smacked down") nationally this year, most of them for Thanksgiving, maybe it is.

Here's a gorgeous "live" turkey from Warren at El Diablo Coffee on Queen Anne:

Check out earlier gobblers from Fremont Coffee and Jared Mockli.

Is Starbucks having another customer-friendly computer problem? Gold Card members find a loophole

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:51:02 PST

Remember back in 2006, when Starbucks had to cancel coupons for free iced coffee after they were forwarded throughout the Western Hemisphere?

It seemed the company didn't have a firm grasp on the power of e-mail.

Now comes another possible glitch.

With the advent of its new frequent-buyer program, Starbucks will nix the 10 percent discount that Gold Card carriers have gotten, once their current year of membership ends. They don't dig that and appear to have found a way around it.

A reader e-mailed me to say that Gold Card carriers who lose their cards -- or break them, or whatever -- and get new ones are finding the expiration dates are reset to one year from their first use of the replacement card.

"Starbucks is not able to assign the expiration date from the original card to the new replacement card," this person wrote.

That means "if a customer has their card replaced between now and their expiration date, the replacement Gold Card will actually have a year membership from the date the customer first uses the new card."

Whatever you think of the potential lying and stealing, why can't Starbucks set the expiration dates properly?

Update at 1:45 p.m. on 11/20/09: A Starbucks spokesman just wrote to say they've fixed the problem.

Howard Schultz's base salary raised to $1.3 million for Starbucks' fiscal 2010

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:59:45 PST

That's from about $10,000 in fiscal 2009, when the Starbucks CEO requested that it be reduced to the minimum necessary for him to continue receiving health-care and other benefits. Schultz's salary for the previoust few years had been $1.2 million.

His total compensation in fiscal 2008 was $9.7 million. We're still waiting for a proxy filing to find out what it was in fiscal 2009, when he was not eligible for a standard bonus but did receive stock options, making his pay directly tied to Starbucks' stock performance. Shares rose 40 percent during Starbucks' fiscal 2009.

The pay information came from a Starbucks spokeswoman, not a securities filing. A slew of filings this evening reveal stock options for the company's top executives for fiscal 2010. They vest over four years and, unlike the restricted stock units executives received last week, they will have to pay something for these -- $22.06 a share -- when they exercise them.

Here's who got what, filing by filing.

Street Bean Espresso, new nonprofit coffee shop in Belltown, hosts reception Wednesday evening

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:14:03 PST

Street Bean Espresso opened at Third Avenue and Cedar Street in Belltown earlier this month but has its grand opening today, including a reception from 5 p.m. (that's right now) until 7 p.m. for local artist Jen Grabarczyk.

Street Bean is a nonprofit that "provides job training and employment for young adults working to exit street life." It's part of New Horizons Ministries, an interdenominational Christian ministry that's been in Seattle since 1978.

Each employee gets four weeks of on-site barista training and can work at Street Bean for up to two years, helping them earn money and establish a work history.

"Steady employment is key in getting off the streets," Linda Ruthruff, Street Bean's executive director, said in a release. "But we knew we needed to provide more than just a job. Young people need a community to replace their community on the street, and a place to discover a new identity apart from the street."

It's in the same building as Kroll Map Co., whose owner, John Loacker, is giving the cafe free rent for a year. Architects, designers and contractors donated time to build out the space, and a local carpenter and a Street Bean employee built the cafe's tables. Suppliers provided discounts on furnishings and equipment, and donors contributed more than $225,000 to the business.

Street Bean's coffee is from Caffe Lusso in Redmond. It offers free WiFi and a private meeting room that can be reserved by local businesses and organizations at no charge. It's open Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will be open on weekends soon.

(Photo courtesy of Street Bean Espresso.)

View Street Bean Espresso in a larger map

Turkey latte art smackdown? Check out this gobbler from Fremont Coffee.

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:17:03 PST

Chris Webb, who owns Fremont Coffee with his daughter Anya Mushen, saw my post last night with Jared Mockli's turkey latte art and e-mailed this spectacular gobbler by Christian Morris at Fremont Coffee:

Any other turkeys out there? Send them along (mallison@seattletimes.com).

And it's not seasonal, but check out Christian Morris' Darth Vader.

Starbucks opens Tudor-style coffeehouse on Capitol Hill called Roy Street Coffee & Tea

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:51:03 PST

Starbucks opens Roy Street Coffee & Tea on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the second of three stores it plans in Seattle that are "inspired by Starbucks" but don't carry its name.

They sell things like wine, beer and gourmet cheese plates that are not on typical Starbucks menus and could not be easily mass produced.

The group at tonight's media preview was much smaller than in July, when national TV networks descended on the first non-Starbucks along 15th Avenue East.

By now, it's old news that Starbucks is experimenting with its name in Seattle and its look worldwide, bringing more local flavor to stores from Seattle's University Village to Paris Disney Village to London.

Right down to the torture-chamber hanging lamps, the Tudor revival look of Roy Street Coffee & Tea, at 700 Broadway East, captures the architecture of a section of Capitol Hill that's home to the Harvard Exit movie theater and Cornish College of the Arts, as well as big-name Seattle coffeehouses including Espresso Vivace, Joe Bar, and Dilettante Mocha Cafe.

Like the 3,600-square-foot location, the menu will be vaster than at 15th Avenue Coffee & Tea. There will be more wine, more beer, more cheese from Beecher's Handmade Cheese -- and Frappuccinos, which are absent from 15th Avenue Coffee & Tea.

Jared Mockli, who trains baristas at both non-Starbucks locations, didn't want to talk about the Frappuccino thing. In fact, he was in denial about it until longtime customer Melody Overton, of StarbucksMelody.com, pointed to the menu. She was surprised, too. Frappuccinos are not your traditional coffeehouse fare.

Mockli preferred to practice on the shop's Synesso Hydra (action photo), which will pour standard espresso and single-origin coffees. Roy Street Coffee & Tea also has a Clover machine and will serve pour-over coffee instead of electric-pot brewed coffee.

Feeling the pressure of Thanksgiving around the corner, Mockli, who's also a trainer for Bellissimo Coffee InfoGroup, is working fast to teach all the shop's baristas to make turkey latte art in time. Now there's something Starbucks couldn't mass produce.
View Roy Street Coffee & Tea in a larger map

Dubsea Coffee opens in White Center public housing community

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:11:08 PST

Voracious calls it the "most beautiful coffee shop on the western peninsula that is West Seattle and White Center."

Opened last weekend, it's the first retailer at Greenbridge, a 95-acre public housing community developed by the King County Housing Authority.

"Being open and loving -- and inspiring each other to be that way -- is what I hope this space will achieve," the shop's creator, Sibelle Nguyen, told the West Seattle Herald.

Dubsea carries Stumptown coffee, organic Rishi teas, hot chocolate and chai, along with baked goods from Little Rae's Bakery, Macrina Bakery & Cafe and High 5 Pie from Fuel Coffee owner Dani Cone.

Starbucks' second non-Starbucks opens at 6 a.m. Wednesday on Capitol Hill

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:36:35 PST

Workers are putting final touches on Roy Street Coffee & Tea, at 700 Broadway East. It will be the second of three non-Starbucks stores that the chain is opening in Seattle. The first, 15th Avenue Coffee & Tea, opened in July.

More details about Roy Street after this evening's media preview.

Starbucks expands T-discs (not to be confused with K-cups)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:32:02 PST

The Motley Fool was disconcerted last summer that Starbucks hadn't yet jumped on the K-cup bandwagon -- a money machine that is helping Green Mountain Coffee Roasters grow like there's no recession.

K-cups are single servings of coffee in little plastic cups to be inserted in Keurig coffee machines. The idea is that each cup is fresh and easy to make. Many roasters make K-cups, although the technology belongs to Green Mountain.

Instead of K-cups, Starbucks has T-discs, which are made in partnership with Kraft and dispensed in home machines called Tassimos, made by Bosch. Other roasters also make T-discs.

Starbucks has been relatively quiet about its T-disc partnership since unveiling it two years ago. But last March, it rolled out T-discs in Europe, and today said it will begin selling two new flavors -- latte and cappuccino -- in U.S. retailers in December. An eight-pack is $10.99.

For comparison, a 12-pack of Starbucks breakfast blend is $10.49, and a 24-pack of Kona Blend K-cups from Tully's Coffee is $13.95. Two other Starbucks brands -- Seattle's Best Coffee and Tazo -- also offer T-discs.

More Twitter coffee talk at Caffeinated Conversations

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:57:41 PST

Jason Simon of Mill Creek launched Caffeinated Conversations last spring and posts a new topic of conversation every Monday. Today's is about Twitter, and includes information from my post last week about Starbucks' Twitter master Brad Nelson along with other coffee purveyors' Twitter efforts.

Simon said he became interested in coffee and conversation while studying conflict analysis and resolution at George Mason University, "where I came to believe that conversation (informal and facilitated) help to shape and reshape the world everyday. And coffee often helps to stimulate them."

He has almost 800 followers on Twitter and more than 100 on Flickr.

Simon said he's also working with a few coffee businesses, "helping them leverage social media to connect with current and potential customers, and build community."

(Photo courtesy of Jason's wife, Janine Simon)

How many coffee cards do you have?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:27:03 PST

I just talked to someone at the paper who has four: Dilettante, Mokas, Seattle Coffee Works and Starbucks.

Some shops use paper punch cards. Others have stored-value cards or membership-style cards a la Costco. Starbucks is trying to entice people to its revised loyalty program -- which has upset some loyal customers -- with a new mini card designed by Project Runway winner Christian Siriano.

How many are in your wallet, and which is your favorite?