NO NO, A FASHIONISTA CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT STARBUCKS OKAYYYYYY THANKK YOU.

Starbucks, once considered the innovator of the take-away coffee market, is no stranger to falling sales lately. Does this mean it can reinvent itself as a unique brand rather than mass market co-conspirator of globalisation?
The Seattle coffee chain said earlier this week it is planning to shut 61 of its 85 stores in Australia. From 3 August, only people in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane will be able to buy Starbucks’ lattes, frappucinos and espressos.
Starbucks first opened in Australia in 2000 but faced a tough road ahead as the great land down under was still finding its café culture feet.
Founder Howard Schultz said the decision to close the stores was part of a plan to revitalise the chain that is struggling as the US economy slows.
He said that while the decision represented business challenges unique to the Australian market, it didn’t reflect the strong state of Starbucks business in countries outside of the US.
However, earlier this year Starbucks chief executive Jim Donald was asked to leave the company after six years in response to falling sales.
Shultz took over the role in a bid to lead the group towards recovery, saying that staff and customers had become bureaucratic and that customer service needed improving.
Starbucks has been struggling in the US as consumers hit by the slowdown have cut back their spending on expensive coffee. Rising dairy prices have also raised costs.
There has also been increased competition with the likes of Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s introducing their own lines of gourmet coffee with half the price tag.
In the first three months of the year, Starbucks’ profits fell 28 per cent. The coffee chain giant said conditions had been especially bad in California and Florida, which account for one-third of its US revenue and have been hit hard by the housing market slump.
So how much faith do consumers have in their everyday brands?
You’d be hard pushed to walk around London for ten minutes and not stroll past a Starbucks coffee house. We’ve been inundated by these cafes and now it seems that the strategy was a little misguided.
Yes it is convenient to never have to look too far for a Starbucks, but if the brand is good enough people will seek it out.
Starbucks reinvented coffee - it made walking around with a paper cup trendy and fashionable and my suspicions are that the brand hasn’t failed yet. Perhaps its just in need of a new strategy because no matter what time of day it is, my local Starbucks is always full. So maybe the coffee chain should pay attention to the customers it already has, and ease up on needing to be every where for every one. Perhaps it could get a little of its prestigiousness back.
Celebrities love Starbucks and as long as they continue to be seen with the white and green cups the brand will always have a good reputation. But celebrities like their brands to be expensive and unique and those who follow celebrity trends like to to feel like one also. So perhaps Starbucks could really hang on to that thought - it may be slipping, but it is still cool and perfectly redeemable and even if some stores continue to shut, there will be those who seek it out.