Starbucks Okays the Ghetto Latte
Consumerist reports that Starbucks has officially condoned the “ghetto latte” — the practice of bypassing the surcharge for a latte by simply ordering the espresso and adding milk at the condiment bar.
Customization is a fundamental attribute of the Starbucks Experience. We provide condiments to our customers so they can make their drinks to their liking and we appreciate their patronage. We trust our customers to make the choices that are right for them.
[Consumerist: Starbucks okays the ghetto latte]
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k34h2qf9vy2 said,
February 1, 2007 @ 5:04 pm
I agree with the baristas, but I don’t think they would agree with my solution.
It’s foolish to wast money on expensive coffee and then try to save money on the milk. If you are sensible about money in the first place you should not by coffee at starbucks.
There is an interesting chapter on starbucks in a book titled “The Underground Economist” Their coffee is so expensive because they have to pay high rent for the busy locations. It isn’t starbucks that are ripping you off it’s the competition for scarce real estate. (That’s a scientific way of saying It’s the landlords who are ripping off starbucks and starbucks passes it on to you.)
Also, the reason starbucks has a large variety of coffees on their menu is so they can extract as much money as possible people who are willing to spend a lot on coffee and from people who don’t want so spend a lot on coffee. If they only sold one type of coffee they’d get the same amount from every one. If they only sold cheap coffee they’d loose out on potential big spenders and if they only sold expensive coffee they’d miss the sales to cheapskates.
Frame Hacker said,
February 4, 2007 @ 9:02 pm
K3 (can I call you K3?),
I don’t agree that landlords are ripping SBUX off– SBUX wouldn’t pay the high rent if they didn’t stand to make more profit themselves by being in those locations. Otherwise you certainly wouldn’t have the absurdity of intersections with a SBUX on three out of four corners, which does happen (I know of one in New York offhand).
As for whether to buy coffee at SBUX at all: Well… it’s a lifestyle choice.
But the difference between a $2 double espresso plus a splash of free milk and a $3.50 capuccino isn’t all that great, flavor-wise (as long as you don’t mind lukewarm coffee)…
The best kept cheapskate secret at SBUX, though, is the “short” drink– a smaller size version of most drinks that is available everywhere but never listed on the menu. Ask for a “short” latte or regular coffee, if you’re satisfied with an 8 ounce drink, and you’ll save about 15% off the price of a “tall”…