Comments on: I Wonder if Book Stores Have Tried This?

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:33:57 +0000

The inside scoop is that Starbucks has the shopping process down to a science. Not only have they thought of how long it takes to get through the line they know precisely how many seconds it takes to convert a ordinary coffee sale into – say a scone with that, or maybe one of the crappy jazz CDs they have strategically placed near the line. This is not conjecture – I worked on a large complex project that was intended to do nothing more that add a few seconds to the linger time near the pick-up counter.

The better question is – how long is too long? There must be some point of deminishing return on the linger time.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 20:23:52 +0000

MJH, yes, it works. From the Slate article that triggered Travis' posting:

Hyman's new neighbor boosted his sales so much that he decided to turn the tactic around and start targeting Starbucks. "We bought a Chinese restaurant right next to one of their stores and converted it, and by God, it was doing $1 million a year right away," he said.

By: mjh

mjh — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:20:23 +0000

I wonder if it works in reverse. Drive around and find a Starbucks with long lines then open up a competitor right next door.

By: dave smith

dave smith — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:07:04 +0000

I'd suspect that Starbucks creates alot of customers, where BN does not. So when a starbucks moves in, they can't serve all the new customers and the spillover goes elsewhere.

A new BN does not create new readers, and even if it did, the BN would be able to serve them.

By: Everitt Mickey

Everitt Mickey — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:27:12 +0000

What's more...StarBucks coffee is awful.

I'm a coffee hound. I drink a LOT of coffee. Two pots a day...minimium. Pots...not cups. I've been doing it for thirty years since I was in the Air Force. I've had a lot of bad coffee. Starbucks is bad.

I never understood how Starbucks could make money selling a bad product. Cool name though.

By: Allen

Allen — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:18:45 +0000

I suspect it doesn’t and wouldn’t work for the mom and pop book stores. That is, assuming it’s the spill-over from Starbucks that gets people into the local coffee store next door. If you stop in to grab coffee, I would think you’re in a mood to get in and out. So much of a line will discourage you. For books, I suspect there isn’t that same rush causing a line. And if there isn’t you’re not in the mind set of wanting to get in and out as fast as possible.

By: kebko

kebko — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:57:10 +0000

Did you know Einsteins went bankrupt, were bought out by another chain, which basically went bankrupt again, and now are run by another management team that seems to be profitable? I’ll bet the change happened during that last switch in ownership.

And, the worst has to be Paradise Bakeries. First you have the coffee & cookies counter, so if you want some of those, you better stop there, but if you just want one cookie, go on because they give you that anyway. Then, you get to the sandwich counter & they only do sandwiches, even if you order a soup & sandwich combo, then the salad counter with the same deal, then the soup counter. Then, you get to the cash register where they look down at your tray & ring you up, then you say, “Oh, wait, they are still working on one of my sandwiches.” Then they ring you up again, and you say, “No, that soup was part of a combo – oh, was I supposed to order a cup instead of a bowl for that?” Then they ring you up again & if you’re lucky you can move on to your seat.