The last time I had coffee at McDonald's was in the mid-80s. It was not good then. Perhaps it is better now? P.S. I don't think "brew process" is quite "90% there." There is the small matter of bean quality, as well as how fresh the brewed coffee is. Personally, I don't think they brew often enough in most coffee shops I've been to. During peak times it's okay due to turnover, but in the slower periods, coffee shops should refresh more often, especially if they want to play with preminum pricing. During the slow periods I always ask how fresh (in minutes) their freshest brew is. They don't always tell the truth.
Fresh coffee is always better. I drink a pot/day, BLACK no sugar, no milk no frothy nonsense i want to TASTE the naked bean. No one has said one thing about the BEANS. Are they special beans?
HMMMMMMM funny how he comes back a day after the MCD announcement. Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz is reclaiming the chief executive's chair as part of a major restructuring initiative to slow the company's U.S. growth, ramp up expansion overseas and improve offerings for its customers.
While I agree, I think the problems arose when they started the "stand-up" store model to save on real-estate. The high-margin customer spends 90 minutes on average reading the paper or using the wifi.
There is a definite difference in quality of beans. Plus there is the matter of personal preference. At home, I usually stick to a blend of about one-third dark and one-third light of Moka Java beans. (Not flavored beans, where the flavoring only masks the inferiority of the bean itself.) Another very good blend is 50/50 of Ethiopian Limu and Sumatra Madheling. I assure you it won't disappoint. A pot a day, eh? How's the blood pressure?
I agree. I would never pay Starbucks prices to drink coffee standing up or to go. There is overpricing, and then there is robbery.
Standalone and in their co-branded locales; malls, etc. Most of the Chicago stores have seating limited to a few stools.
Ok, I can see the problem with that. I think the only viable locations for a store type like that would be train stations. The problem would be over-seeable though as locations like that are pretty easy to close down. Perhaps you could say the low-cost would be worth the experiment.
Case in point -- we would go out of our way to find a store with a couch and a fireplace, which required passing at least two stores to find.