The Inquisitr » Starbucks

Carly Simon Sues Starbucks for Flop Album Sale

AHN — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:05:27 +0000

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) – Multi-award winning artist Carly Simon is suing coffeehouse giant Starbucks for failing to promote her CD. She claims that her 2008 album “This Kind of Love” was not available in a lot of stores during the early months of its release.

“This Kind of Love” was released via the Starbucks label Hear Music in April 2008 and was sold in Starbucks outlets.

But Simon, 64, claims that the coffee chain failed to properly promote the LP. The album was apparently not available in a “substantial number” of stores during the important early months following its release.

Also, Starbucks offered the album at a sale price, which “stigmatized” the sale.

Starbucks denied failing to fulfill its obligation to promote and distribute her album, but the CD only had a “tepid response” from customers.

Simon is seeking $5 million to $10 million from the coffee chain.

Starbucks launches two lame apps

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:11:13 +0000

Starbucks, I’d like to introduce you to the Chipotle app.

As a busy blogger, when I make my way up the basement stairs and expose my tender green skin to sunlight, I don’t want to have to spend my precious outside time interacting with other people. With the Chipotle app, I never have to listen to anyone try to tell me for the eleventy-hundred times that the red beans have bacon in them, is that okay? Because I just have to mumble my one-syllable name and grab my food and leave. I can even pay for it within the app, limiting my human interaction that much more.

I’m specific. I like my stuff a certain way. I have never once deviated from my order at Chipotle, and I tend to only tweak my Starbucks order once a year. A Venti Doubleshot no ice with whip and ten pumps of white mocha. Easy. But not exactly, because the “baristas” always think I’m gaming them by paying $4 for a coffee, so they try to make me get a White Mocha and add espresso to it at at buck a shot or whatever they’re charging, magically transforming my $4 coffee into a $7 coffee. Yes, I’d love to pay even more for the already marked up same thing!

But the only thing worse than espresso drinks at Starbucks is espresso drinks at independent shops, of which one once tried to charge me $12 for a quad espresso. Starbucks, for coffee, offers much more ease of use than other coffee shops and they usually take debit/credit cards, which was why I was so disappointed to hear about their lackluster iPhone apps- MyStarbucks and Starbucks Card Mobile. There are two, which in and of itself is annoying. There are a lot of great apps, which means that to really have a chance to use them, you can’t have them all.

Annoyingly, the roll out is slow and limited, and nowhere on the East Coast:

Unless you’re geographically very lucky, you won’t be able to pay for a venti frappuccino with your iPhone just yet. Only 16 Starbucks outlets, eight in its home turf of Seattle and eight in Silicon Valley, can currently handle the barcode-based gift cards. These are stores already internally designated as test spots for new Starbucks technology.

But what are you missing? Instead of the drawn out process of directly paying for your drink, you get to transfer money from your account to your phone and then pay from there. Who doesn’t love extra steps?

But can you order a drink? No! However, you can make a pretend one, and find out after you put stuff in your virtual coffee what’s in your coffee! The stuff you just put in it! Technology is so amazing. Then you can go order the drink you just simulated by verbally repeating your order to the barista. And wait while your drink is queued behind all the people who ordered first.

So while the apps offer a store locator between them (kind of useless if you patronize Starbucks and work in an urban area, you already know exactly where they are) and some perks for those who use the cards, it looks like both are not jam-packed with features if you just want to order and pay for a coffee.

Starbucks to serve Beer & Wine in Seattle locations next week

Paul Short — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:39:08 +0000

Coffe shop giant, Starbucks, will be serving wine and bottled beer starting next week at it’s Seattle WA locations.

The sale of beer and wine will be a pilot project and an effort to transform their shops into more of a European style experience. If all goes well, Starbucks will be expanding the sale of alcohol out to more of it’s 16,000 store chain and will also be introducing live music and poetry readings to round out the ambiance.

A Starbucks spokesperson says that there would be no major legal obstacles, noting that coffee houses in New York’s Greenwich Village have been serving beer and wine for years.

So how do avid Starbucks fans feel about the new changes to their java bean havens? We’ll see, but some patrons are already speaking out. One group says that it’ll add a lot to the atmosphere and vibe of the stores while bringing in new customers who’ll stay longer. Others don’t agree. They’re saying that they are against the change and that the place where they now go to sip latte’s and get free wifi will turn into more of a noisy bar or pub atmosphere.

What do I think? I’ve never liked Starbucks coffee, or their stores, and I don’t drink beer – but those are just my personal preferences.

VIDEO: Starbucks Explosion in NYC

JR — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:59:21 +0000

Police are trying to figure out who set off a Starbucks explosion in New York City. Some sort of explosive device caused the windows to shatter at the Starbucks at Third Avenue on East 92nd Street, on the Upper East Side, just before 4 a.m. on Monday.

Starbucks Explosion: The Details

The actual Starbucks explosion took place on a bench outside the store, according to media reports from the New York City area. The store was closed at the time and no one was injured; however, some residents who live in apartments above the store did have to evacuate their homes.

Media outlets are noting the similarity in time with the Starbucks explosion and past blasts set outside New York’s British Consulate, Mexican Consulate, and Armed Forces recruiting booths. All those explosions also occurred between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m., a commissioner tells WABC-TV.

Starbucks Explosion: Video Report

The following video shows the scene of the Starbucks explosion shortly after the blast took place. It also includes accounts from some of the neighbors who witnessed the explosion from above the store.

Miley Cyrus Loves Starbucks AND Twitter (and Twitpic)

Paul Short — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 03:23:31 +0000

On April 6th, Miley Cyrus posted the following tweet from her phone to her Twitter account:

“helplessly and hopelessly wondering around ny trying to find a starbucks.”

Then, as a followup to the above, she posted this photo to her Twitpic account:

Miley’s comment accompanying the photo?

“Found a starbysss yayy! God bless gps!!!”.

Not that Starbucks needs any extra promotion or anything, but imagine if the company had went through conventional channels and hired Miley Cyrus to do a photo shoot endorsing their product. The endorsement alone would be in the 6 figures and ad spend would have been millions to get Miley’s photo seen by the public.

Instead, Miley expressed her fondness of Starbucks coffee, told over 135,000 of her Twitter friends that she was out wandering around at night looking for a store and after finding it, had her picture taken holding the coffee and posted it online.

Instant 7 figures worth of promo and publicity for Starbucks, for free.

If you (and/or) your company are not already on Twitter.com, you need to be.

T-Mobile Sues Starbucks Over Free AT&T WiFi

Dominic Rivera — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:53:14 +0000

T-Mobile is suing Starbucks for allowing AT&T to roll out free wireless Internet access in its 7,000 cafes using T-Mobile’s lines and equipment.

Starbucks’ deal with AT&T allegedly violates its 2002 deal with T-Mobile giving it the rights to market and sell WiFi Internet access at Starbucks stores until 2009.

In the lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, T-Mobile also contends that “the conduct of Starbucks has caused T-Mobile monetary damages and such damages will continue should Starbucks continue its breaching conduct.”