So it looks like all the people passing up starbuck’s has finally taken its toll. Starbuckshasoverpricedcoffee is closing 600 stores. I just wonder how many stores will close that are also located across the street from yet another starbucks. You Jim - the mission street location. Which one do we shutter - the one on the left or the one on the right. Tough call.
Hat tip to psi100 on this one - Sydney brothels say Pope’s visit will give business a leg-up.
From the wire -
“We know the kind of people who visit prostitutes and adult shops, many of them do it because of their own personal repression,” Eros spokesman Robbie Swan told AFP. “And often it’s because of religion.”
This is great stuff. It must kill the Catholic leaders to know this is true. I love how they will bring in extra girls to cover the demand. I have never partook in the scene in Australia but although it is not in your face it sounds like it is a fairly accepted part of life. The question is does one ask for forgiveness prior to the deed or after? Maybe some do both just to be extra repentant.
I’m guessing the Starbucks closings were part of their original plan. Saturate the market to drive out the competition and then tidy up by closing the redundant stores. Slimy but effective. 7/11’s seem to do the same but they just keep the redundant stores open which is probably a franchising thing.
View all comments by pmmp
So i guess the local dominatrix will be fully booked for the Popes visit. Did they say anything about the rise in altar boy uniforms being sold to greasy guys in trench coats and bifocals?
Note to Sydney, keep your prepubescent boys inside for the duration of the popes visit.
I think it’s better to do the confessional after the sin, that case you have a saucy story to tell and you give the priest a little excitement to his otherwise boring life. It’s good to add details also, so make sure you take notes or videotape it just in case you forget something important which we are all prone to do occasionally.
View all comments by UnCochinoWetback
I also love how the police have been given “special powers” to handle the riffraff that may show up at the pope event to start trouble.
Rock up wearing an offensive t-shirt and you can get a free strip search, top stuff!
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23951245-5016937,00.html
View all comments by Tark
GOOD TO HEAR ABOUT STARFUCKS,OOPS SORRY STARBUCKS ,TOTALLY AGREE -OVERPRICED BAD COFFEE-HERE ON SAMUI THEY DO HAVE A PRIME SPOT OF REALESTATE-PITY IT WILL NOT CLOSE AND OPEN A DECENT BAR-GREAT SPOT FOR PEOPLE WATCHING.
RE POPES VISIT TO SYDNEY -I CAME FROM SYDNEY AND ITS AMAZING THAT CHURCHES SEEM TO BE FLORISHING THERE AGAIN-THE CHRISTIAN CITY CHURCHES ARE PACKING THEM IN LIKE NEVER BEFORE 1 CHURCH I HEARD ABOUT HAD A MAJOR FUNDRAISER AND GUESS WHAT ..RAISED 52 MILLION DOLLARS IN A MONTH-EVEN THEIR SONGS SELL MORE THAN MOST ROCK BANDS-THESE ARE HIGH TECK HIGH ENERGY CHURCHES WHERE YOU GIVE AND GIVE BECAUSE THEIR MOTTO IS -THE MORE YOU GIVE THE MORE YOU GET.WHERE THE HEAD MINISTER DRIVES A $3000000 DOLLAR CAR.SO THESE PEOPLE MIGHT GIVE THE LOCAL GIRLS A HUGE BOOST..
View all comments by zepplin
In the nineties I went on a school trip to Rome and a group of us ended up in an adult video store in the shadow of St Peters. The guy had some really disturbing videos in there, of women dressed as nuns beging abused and men wallowing in shit. While he talked football with us, his mother, an old, devout-looking lady in a veil went round the shelves doing a stocktake like she was counting tins of beans. I remember seeing loads of porn, quite a lot it involving animals, being sold openly on streets near the Vatican as well.
Starbucks coffee is overpriced and not that great. It speaks volumes about people that they got so big. I read an article in Time a couple a months back saying how founder Howard Schultz was launching a new bid to revamp the brand’s popularity, which was suffering from having too many stores, too much merchandising, and too little emphasis on good fresh coffee. Pmmp I agree - I think they bombarded high streets to crush the competition, but I would go further, I think they are closing those stores now to make the brand more ‘homely’.
View all comments by milo
The G club “farangspends2much” crowd complaining about $5 coffee.
I like that.
That’s funny.
View all comments by jack dawson
I’m not sure how this happened. When exactly did trashing Starbucks become a demonstration of one’s personal cool? It’s almost something of a litmus test in certain quarters these days, rather like black politicians trashing Wal-Mart. Mindless, but required.
Starbucks offers you a comfortable, pleasant atmosphere where you can relax for a hour or so, newspapers and magazines to read, something to drink that ranges from okay to pretty good, and a few adequate snacks if you happen to be hungry. And for this you pay the equivalent of three or four dollars. Three or four bucks for an hour of comfort and relaxation with coffee thrown it? What’s not to like?
More to the point, what harm is it doing you that there are a heck of a lot of us who do like Starbucks? How may of the Thailand-love-it-or-leave-it crowd seem to feel free to pile onto Starbucks with exactly the same relish that those of us who don’t think much of Thailand use when we trash this poor, benighted little country? Heck, I think Starbucks has been one of the best things to happen to Thailand in the last decade, and I know a lot of others — That and farang — who frequently say the same thing.
So there you go: STARBUCKS - LOVE IT OR SHUT THE FUCK UP!
(so how does the shoe fit now that it’s on the other foot?)
View all comments by Old Asia Hand
That’s funny, too.
View all comments by Bangkok Bad Boy
The reason I avoid Starbucks is that the coffee ranges from poor to mediocre at its best. A number of years ago I was reading a magazine interview with Starbucks founder Howard Schultz (on a flight from London to Naples, ironically). In it he said that he had an epiphany while drinking coffee at a coffee bar in Italy when he realized that ‘It’s not about the coffee, it’s about the people’. This explained a lot for me, and I think he missed the point completely. It IS about the coffee (as well as the people), but in Italy the coffee is almost universally good, a point which was lost on him. Last I heard, Starbucks still hadn’t entered the Italian market. The universal reaction of my Italian friends to Starbucks coffee has been: Che Schifo!
View all comments by Upcountry Man
austin powers was spot on. star bucks is true evil! give me a freshly brewed thai/lao coffee any day for a fraction of the price of that lousy tasting star bucks pretentious crap. (im referring to the real coffee here, not the nescafe shite)
View all comments by Mr Carpet
Like I mentioned before I used to go to Catholic school. I tried to keep in touch with the girls as I was a teenager since they were the first girls to always want to mess around.
oah - I think u got this strabucks thing all wrong. This is not a bashing or a thailand thing. I came from Berkely. Home of peets coffee - where howard, after getting his coffee epiphany, learned to brew. Peets was good stuff but starbucks never came close.
in san fran I would avoid a strabucks like the plague choosing real cafes with real coffee, good food, good service and usually free wifi.
in most asian cities u could also find an alternative. coffee bean, pacific coffee and so on.
thailand, like in many things, has little too offer starbucks for competition. this is typical in many areas though - not just coffee.
about the only places I would frequent starbucks was japan an china. china has fuck all for good cafes and for some reason neither does tokyo. so starbucks was a home away from home in these cities but I dont need that in thailand.
however starbucks is failing for overreaching, forgetting their customer base and for the scourge I call global pricing.
I don’t think we are bashing nor do I think this is a lonely opinion.
http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/07/02/why-starbucks-is-hitting-the-wall/
View all comments by smitty
Starbucks lost it when they got into selling music, coffeemakers (not cheap), and other assorted junk. And their pastries suck ass. Howard Schulz acknowledges so much in an article in the most recent Portfolio (US glossy biz mag). Interestingly enough, it says in that article that he **tried to keep Starbucks out of his own neighborhood**.
Get back to making good coffee, bring in bagels and lose the foul-looking Danish, sort out the problems with coffee growers, and there you have it, a cleaner, prettier Starbucks.
View all comments by Julian
“When exactly did trashing Starbucks become a demonstration of one’s personal cool? It’s almost something of a litmus test in certain quarters these days, rather like black politicians trashing Wal-Mart. Mindless, but required.”
OAH, I couldn’t agree more. It seems that showing an interest in anything popular, especially a successful franchise, makes you look like a lemming. Given such hostility to starbucks, I’m surprised that an alternative isn’t really available in Thailand (by that I mean decent coffee, comfortable seating and a regular supply of newspapers).
Coffee World’s coffee is a step down from Starbucks, plus the environment makes you feel like you’re sitting in a Thai furniture shop.
Black Canyon? Not cheap, and the flavored coffees are sweet. Not particularly comfy either.
And then there is Coffee Beans by Dao, where you pay around 100 baht for a cup the size of the paper cups used by starbucks for water.
Smitty, perhaps this could be P-6 (or whatever number you guys are up to now)? Dare I say, you guys have actually created an environment at the Pub with the positive qualities listed by OAH concerning starbucks.
View all comments by go go groupie
150 thb per hour for wi-fi (when they should be giving it away at cost or free)and the global pricing that Smitty mentioned pretty much keep me away. We have a great cafe at my office that charges 50% to 75% less than Starbucks and the place is always packed.
View all comments by JustinCider
You can get decent coffee beans at villages in Northern Thailand. One of the better ones is what Starbucks buys.
http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/mae-sariang-huai-hom-mae-sam-laep-t3773.html
View all comments by Dilligaf
TO OLD ASIA HAND ,IF I THINK THAT YOU CANNOT GET A GOOD CUP OF COFFEE -AND A DECENT PIECE OF CAKE OR A BUN -AND THAT THEY ARE CLOSING 600 SHOPS DECAUSE OF THAT THEN DONT TELL ME TO SHUT THE F-UCK UP.ITS JUST ANOTHER TYPICAL AMERICAN CRAPPY CHAIN STORE THAT TRIES TO SATURATE THE MARKET WITH BAD PRODUCTS JUST LIKE MCDONALDS/KFC I HAVNT BEEN INTO ANY OF THOSE HERE AND DONT PLAN TOO-I DID GO TO STARBUCKS AND HAD GUESS WHAT ..BAD COFFEE AND A STALE BUN WHICH WHEN I TRIED TO TAKE BACK WAS TREATED LIKE A DESEASED CUSTOMER.IF YOU CANNOT FIND A LITTLE ITALIAN RESUARANT/COFFEE HOUSE IN BBK I FEEL SORRY FOR YOUR TASTEBUDS..
View all comments by zepplin
How did u really feel Zep? (aka mr. CaPlOcK).
Which STBX will they close? Nana Sq. or Ploenchit? Start a pool?
View all comments by jack dawson
jd - lots of stuff has cleared out of phloen chit. The nana square one is a good location. I think soi 5 is still thinking they move lose their lease though so that would clean 1 out of the 3 out. If that does not happen then tough call but the phloen chit outdoor area as lost 2 businesses over the past few months.
View all comments by smitty
@ AOH - you are a complex man obviously with any number of shoes.
I think the subtext of some of these complaints and embargoes against the likes of Starbucks is just a sign of our farang discomfort sometimes about cancerous western businesses invading other countries.
With the popularity of the US at an all time low around the world and the UK not far behind by association I sometimes wish businesses flying those flags weren’t seen to be exploiting other cultures so such a large degree.
Other times I just get over it - Go Tesco!
… and yes, Black Canyon coffee is bloody awful.
View all comments by doctorbond
OAH and Dr Bond - its not Starbucks’ invasion of Thailand that particularly bothers me. After all, they provide some work, keep some ladies off the pole, and provide a service that might not have been their before. What bothers me is the number of stores and the fact that the coffee aint so great.
I hate stores that ‘cluster’. In the UK Tesco, Starbucks, and Subway are among the worst offenders. You literally can’t go half a mile without finding two branches. If these businesses had their way there would be nothing else on the high street but them. For example, one pound in every eight is already spent in Tescos in the UK, but they keep on building more stores, destroying the British high street and by proxy independent enterprise.
I can’t deny that sometimes these places are the optimum choice for what you’re looking for. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be suckered in by their bullshit.
Even worse are those stores that cluster-fuck and try and maintain a homely, ethical image. In the UK Pret a Manger are particualrly guilty of this - there are three branches within walking distance of my office. Can’t be right.
View all comments by milo
^^ considering the fact you need a degree to work as a barista at Starbucks here in Thailand, I don’t think they are keeping any ladies off the pole.
View all comments by Kit
I lost it with starbucks when I saw them put a joint inside the forbidden city. then they fought the locals to keep it open. that was the jumping the shark moment for them IMHO.
as stated though before this is not to say, unlike in other countries, that there are credible alternatives to bucks in bangkok. there really is not. how unfortunate.
as to starbucks keeping girls off the pole. hardly. see any hotties working starbucks? not many. this is not a bucks issue though - this is a thailand issue. darker skin girls, girls without the right degree and girls with a checkered past have a hard time getting decent employment in thailand.
the thais like it that way. keeps the massage parlors full of fresh meat
View all comments by smitty
maybe this is a business opportunity for someone? decent coffee with hotties working the coffee machines.
View all comments by Kit
kit - no offense. pretty easy to combine any idea one can think of with hot women. problem is whatever the idea is who you will have to charge more for these hot women than u would normally pay to have the same function done.
then customers, who assume hot women are everywhere needing jobs, will not pay more because they assume this is bangkok.
anyway - point being is look at all the bars without enough hot women. now imagine a coffee shop. i see failure. but maybe it is me.
View all comments by smitty
aye, was only tongue in cheek. beers and hot women works much better =)
View all comments by Kit
OAH, let me guess…SBUX is in your stock portfolio. You hate everything in Thailand, unless it’s American and makes you money. Sorry, but you’re so frickin’ transparent.
View all comments by khunron
@ OAH: many Starbucks-bashers are kneejerk, no argument here. But while the experience may be worth it (the window seats on the Soi 5 branch are fun), it’s not about the coffee.
@ Smitty: As U know, S-bux is an offshoot of Peet’s, which started in Berkeley in ‘66, essentially commoditizing the fine coffee drinks that have been served in Italy since who knows when, but certainly in SF’s North Beach district since the 30s.
I traveled through Asia in 1993 and could not find a decent espresso in any country. Asians, esp Thais, seem to view coffee as some sort of ice cream base and I hadn’t learned much Thai in this area besides “cafe yen,” and it was a sorry state of affairs. I would have loved a Starbucks at that time (Black Canyon was around and about as good as I could find).
But, Starbucks has real competition now and clearly is losing market share not solely because the politically correct mob won’t swill there, but because their coffee is undersized and overpriced. The furniture at Coffee World may be aesthetically displeasing but their double-espresso is the size of a coffee cup, not a thimble.
in Hong Kong, an expat started a chain called Pacific Coffee Company in ‘93, and when S-bux decided to grace HK with its presence, it attempted a hermit-crab-maneuver and offered PCC a wad of $$$ to buy its franchise-locations. The owner of PCC told them to stuff it.
S-bux went ahead and inserted themselves into HK anyway, but they had to compete with PCC…which continues to operate profitable shops and open new ones frequently. It’s the free market: Pret A Manger has branches here, and there are independent coffeeshops. I look forward to the closure of S-bux branches in HK, where the PCC shops are comfy (yes, nice chairs and good places to meet people) and the overpriced S-bux places are often crammed into closet-sized spaces with maximum street-level exposure…and few customers.
I’m glad customers have choice, and while S-bux may be scrambling and paying brand-consultants to figure out “what went wrong,” I’ll be at one of their competitors, because the product is superior.
JtB
View all comments by Jack the Bat
j - not really an offshoot. the sbux dude learned their trade and bought one of the stores as a showcase. however the rest of it is totally separate.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/08/05/MN179670.DTL&type=travel
love this article. written in 2001 and talking about how the founder of peets thinks the coffee places are expanding to rapidly. nice.
now with sbux closing 600 stores it makes sense.
I always went to PCC in hk. better food, cheaper coffee and more comfortable for hanging out. the only time I would go to sbux was when I could not get a seat in pcc. also PCC always had plenty of power outlets for us nerds. sbux never has enough.
View all comments by smitty
Great article, thanks Smitty! Always wondered about the precise relationship btwn Peet’s and Sbx.
I pulled this out of the piece:
“Without Peet, it is unlikely there would be a Starbucks. In 1970… Siegl was working in Peet’s Berkeley store to learn more about the trade…when the threesome decided to open their first Starbucks coffee shop, Peet agreed to supply them with his roasted beans…with his permission, the first Starbucks store was designed to look like Peet’s coffee mecca in Berkeley.”
I’d say it’s pretty clear who-made-who.
The piece also mentions the opening of the first McCafe. Sometimes we get coupons for discounts on McCafe “bogaccinos” or whatever. They’re cheap…with the coupon.
I go in and ask for a cappucino with “no milk.” This drives the McStaff batso. “NO MILK??!?” they wonder. Yes, as in black, without dairy products, NO milk, I reply. One nimrod said, this is a cappucino, it has milk in it. I said, OK, then make me a latte…with NO MILK.
It’s an actual-size double-espresso in a too-big cup, but it costs US$1.25.
JtB
View all comments by Jack the Bat