What happened to Starbucks? How a progressive company lost its way

Without the third place vibe, they have to compete with a Keurig or espresso machine. I don’t think they have particularly good coffee drinks and I also think they are more interested in coloured or kiddy drinks. Coffee is expensive vs the rest and it’s a younger audience. Granted, they have a good market for people heading off on some kind of transportation but that won’t satisfy Wall Street. Habit and marketing only go so far.

And on holiday we want o sit and enjoy a coffee and nosh, so in the uk we could pick Costa or caffe Nero vs takeaway. Or a non chain shop that still cares.

When you're the little guy, proclaiming yourself the plucky little hero (and acting as such) works pretty darn well. And little companies don't attract too many Wall Street analysts or McKinsey consultants, pushing them to "whatever it takes" optimize for profit.

When you're Goliath, what "works best" is rather different, and it's a very different crowd whispering in your ear.

Starbucks has decent coffee, but I believe many are actually addicted to the sugary additions they put in their drinks.

I also don't think you can be a progressive publicly traded company. The expectations have become so perverse that it probably is a negative to be traded publicly at all.

The company announced yesterday that its CEO of five years, Kevin Johnson, is stepping down.