Getting the jitters
Posted Sat, Jul 5, 6 a.m.
Starbucks' "third place" concept is under pressure from laptops, McDonald's, and a decline in snob appeal.
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Crosscut articles of the past 10 days with the most clicks.
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Most Commented
Crosscut articles of the past 10 days with the most reader comments.
- Monorails: the idea that will not die
(18 comments) - 2008: Year of Hope, Year of Fear, Essay 7
(17 comments) - 2008: Year of Hope, Year of Fear. Essay 2
(13 comments) - Seattle school closure plan, due Tuesday, still doesn't add up
(11 comments) - Viaduct politicians reach a big moment of truth
(9 comments) - 2008: Year of Hope, Year of Fear. Essay 5
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(5 comments) - Seattle Times Co. still trying to close sale of Maine papers
(5 comments)
Starbucks
Crosscut highlights
The real first Starbucks
Posted Wed, Apr 9, 5 a.m.
The modern chain is "going back to its roots" and launching a house coffee called Pike Place Blend. Our author well remembers the first Starbucks store and the first day of business, since he happens to have been the first customer.
READ MORE 6 COMMENTSCrosscut most recent
A week of weakonomics
Posted Wed, Jun 25, 9 a.m.
If you look away from the Sonics trial for a moment, you can see warning signs that the seemingly immune local economy is actually pretty precarious.
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A city of scolds
Posted Thu, May 8, 4 p.m.
Seattle City Hall has cracked down on drinking and clubs, it's on the verge of banning fast food and taxing plastic grocery bags, and now even plastic-bottled water is a civic sin. Switch to tap water! says the mayor. Mossback thinks enough is enough.
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What made the Seattle style of business a success
Posted Thu, Apr 24, 2 p.m.
As civic icons like Safeco drift away from their Puget Sound roots, here's a look at the components of a Seattle way of doing business that built up such brands. The key was motivated employees. The poison was rapid growth.
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Jean Godden on Seattle: My, how you've changed!
Posted Thu, Mar 27, 5 a.m.
The longtime columnist for Seattle's dailies casts an affectionate eye over the many sweeping transformations of the city, and wonders if all the newcomers will learn to cherish the uniqueness of the place.
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Score one for Googie
Posted Thu, Jan 3, 7 a.m.
While three charming old Capitol Hill buildings are sentenced to be razed by Sound Transit, two modern buildings get approval from the Seattle landmarks board: a sleek International-style office building and a quirky Ballard diner.
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Bucking the trend by pouring it straight
Posted Thu, Nov 22, midnight
In Starbucked, a Portlander chronicles the rise of the coffee chain we hate to love.
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Seattle is happy to make you fat
Posted Thu, Aug 2, 11 p.m.
When it comes to the war on obesity, this place is a merchant of death. Meanwhile, fat America – which is most of us – gets the blame.
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Just another metropolis
Posted Fri, Jul 6, midnight
There remain only hints of Seattle's scrappy, provincial heritage of fish, timber, and frontier commerce – of even the sonic and binary booms that propelled the modern city to greatness. Seattle no longer feels unique.
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Another roadside attraction is about to be demolished
Posted Tue, Jun 26, midnight
Hold the wrecking ball. You know that funny looking Denny's in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood? It's slated to be razed for condos. So what? It turns out it's an important piece of modern architecture with historic links to Seattle's coffee culture.
READ MORE 30 COMMENTSThe competitor extraordinaire: Howard Schultz
Posted Tue, Apr 3, 1 a.m.
One of the original founders of Starbucks mulls the famous Schultz memo and offers his thoughts on world coffee hegemony.
READ MORE 1 COMMENTSOther media
Blog posts
Did Howard Schultz pull the last plug for the Sonics?
Posted Wed, Sep 3, 4:23 a.m. 2008
Last week, Howard Schultz threw in the legal towel on his lawsuit trying to recover the Sonics from Oklahoma City. Thanks, Howard. Had he capitulated earlier, when the City was working out its deal with the Oklahoma City purchasers, there would have been leverage, maybe earning a firmer pledge from the NBA about a future expansion. This way, Schultz and Seattle got nothing in return for dropping the suit.
MOREThe end of several eras
Posted Thu, Jul 31, 3:05 p.m. 2008
As two Seattle icons celebrate a combined 70 years on the scene, two other mainstays prepare their exit.
Wednesday morning, July 30, KIRO-AM (710) talk-show host Dave Ross celebrated his 30th year on the air with a three-hour retrospective featuring tributes from U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, visits from colleagues past and present, and a liberal helping of the parodist's musical stylings. Friday night, Aug. 1, KING-TV (5) news anchor Jean Enersen will celebrate her 40th anniversary at the station with a one-hour special that she only allowed after management "suggested the piece could be a springboard for talking about mobile vans where anybody can get a mammogram."
MORESeattle and the elixir of growth
Posted Thu, Jul 24, 11 a.m. 2008
In some moods, I think that Seattle's business renaissance has peaked. Starbucks is contracting, Microsoft is stumbling, Boeing is losing bids, Safeco is sold, and Washington Mutual is sinking. Has our formula of rapid growth spreading across the globe run into the wall?
But then I look at the front page of today's "Marketplace" section of The Wall Street Journal, where three of the four stories are about Seattle-based companies. There's the story of Microsoft's scramble in the executive suite, with the sudden departure of Kevin Johnson, formerly in charge of the Yahoo merger campaign; Costco reporting an earnings squeeze as the prices for merchandise are rising faster than they can pass along costs to its value-seeking customers; and Amazon doubling its second-quarter profits as customers shift from shopping by car to shopping by online.
MOREMy Starbucks is closing!
Posted Mon, Jul 21, 9:17 a.m. 2008
I learned the news just this morning. My favorite barista let me know. She, of course, is worried about her job. I, of course, am worried about her job. But I'm even more worried about my java.
MOREFrom Starbucks to 'Slutbucks'
Posted Tue, May 20, 2 a.m. 2008
Is the Starbucks mermaid the new Paris Hilton? As mentioned on Crosscut, the quality of Starbucks' new everyday Pike Place blend is the subject of discussion, but so too is the company's "new" iconic, retro logo. In use for at least a few more weeks as part of Starbucks' effort to reconnect consumers with the chain's funky, regional roots, the logo is a version of the company's original. The big news: the saucy siren's boobs are back!
MOREStarbucks' Pike Place Roast is just OK, says Consumer Reports
Posted Fri, May 16, 3 p.m. 2008
Jim Romenesko's Starbucks Gossip blog today linked to a Consumer Reports story about the new Pike Place Roast blend, which tasters say is "a smooth cup of coffee with some bitterness, but not particularly complex." Because it is so mild, they recommend drinking it black, so one may appreciate "the subtle floral notes."
MOREWhat gives Seattle so much global sizzle?
Posted Sat, Mar 1, midnight 2008
An article in the February 19 Singapore Straits Times (registration required) makes the striking observation that Seattle alone has produced approximately the same number of leading global brands as the combined population (3 billion) of Asia. On the Seattle list are: Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, Boeing, UPS, Nordstrom, Washington Mutual, Costco, and Safeco. The list from Asia (excluding Japan) is: Singapore Airlines, Lenovo, Samsung, Hundai, San Miguel, Arcelor-Mittal, Oberio, Cathay Pacific, Acer, and Thai Airways.
MOREA Googie meet-up in Ballard
Posted Thu, Jan 17, 6:34 a.m. 2008
The landmark designation meeting for the controversial Ballard diner that was once a Manning's cafeteria and mostly recently a Denny's has been postponed from Feb. 6 to Feb. 20, at the request of the owner, Benaroya Properties, which is fine tuning its case against saving the building. In the meantime, pro-diner folks are hosting a community meeting in Ballard on Jan. 23.
MOREIt's Coffeewinian: Starbucks survives to become the middle-aged cuppa
Posted Mon, Jan 14, 10:38 p.m. 2008
Nah, Howard, your Starbucks isn't a "victim" of its success, it's just feeling the downside of inevitable maturity. America's bad-boy, break-out, Maxwell-House-whuppin' coffee is – middle aged. That's the metaphor flogged in an Oregonian commentary piece, and it works nicely.
MORECan Schultz pull off a Starbucks makeover?
Posted Tue, Jan 8, 10:57 a.m. 2008
The handwriting was on the wall for Starbucks last Valentine's Day, when Howard Schultz sent out his famous memo, lamenting changes at the company he presumably chaired. It was clear someone was going to take the fall, and yesterday that turned out to be CEO Jim Donald. What surprised observers is that Schultz himself is back in charge, saying he was going to slow down growth in U.S. stores, pare bureaucracy, and reestablish the customers' emotional bond with the brand.
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