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Why San Diego Starbucks are suffering
Homeless, too many locations, upstarts like Dutch Bros., and – 7-11
"Homeless dude came in and pissed in the corner in front of everyone when he was told the bathrooms were closed."
The last time I attended a Reader meeting at Starbucks, I noticed that most of the soft, comfortable chairs were gone. The days of lingering with friends, toasting Frappuccinos and lattes, or drinking a Trenta iced coffee solo while studying for finals, seemed like they were a thing of the past.
On September 25, Brian Niccol, chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks, said that those Starbucks locations that are “unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners (employees) expect, or where we don’t see a path to financial performance .... will be closed.” A dozen locations in San Diego County shuttered shortly after.
Lake Murray Blvd. Most blame the shutdowns on the vast number of Starbucks throughout the county, which is approximately 130-plus.
But why? Local coffee drinkers and baristas offered some answers.
On Reddit, deflatedTaco said that the Santee trolley stop location shut down because of “significant issues with mentally unstable people due to the proximity to the trolley stop and it being the end of the line.” I’ve witnessed sketchy folks in San Diego area Starbucks for the last 20 or so years, moreso when there was more comfortable seating and the bathrooms didn’t have codes.
Loyal customers and baristas had similar assessments. Itemside continued on a local Reddit post about the closures, “Yeah, I wasn’t surprised to see one I used to frequent on the list for closure. Homeless dude came in and pissed in the corner in front of everyone when he was told the bathrooms were closed. Workers said it was the second or third time that had happened that week.”
Many of us car enthusiasts switched to 7-11 coffee after the #carsof7eleven hashtag went viral.
The majority of San Diegans blamed the shutdowns on the vast number of Starbucks throughout the county, which was approximately 130. Customers who were sad about the closing of the store at Mira Mesa Boulevard and Camino Santa Fe could choose from three other locations less than a mile away.
Local coffee drinker Raph Koster added, “The Twin Peaks location competed with the one inside the Target a couple hundred feet away. The Bernardo Center one [was] a bit more of a surprise as it had loads of seating and was a popular hangout spot for the retirees in the area. But there’s a Peet’s in the opposite corner of the parking lot, and a Starbucks in the Vons down at that end of the parking lot, too.”
And it’s not just Peet’s or Better Buzz that has tapped the coffee conglomerate’s market share. Mostra, Bird Rock, Coffee Cycle, and over a dozen others were mentioned on a popular Reddit post titled “Best coffee in SD that’s not Starbucks, Peet’s or Better Buzz.”
Dutch Bros. is another popular option. It's a drive-thru coffee joint I’ve been frequenting in Arizona since 2018. Now it's arrived in San Diego. (The place has been trending with the help of influencers, and that, combined with the shuttering of local Starbucks, has proven a blessing and a curse. the Dutch Bros and sisters, or "Briostas," have been so slammed that impatient Yelpers and Google reviewers have been dropping one-star reviews. Aly V. posted on September 26, “I waited in a long line, and despite being there well before several other cars, the staff prioritized orders from people who arrived after me. No explanation, no apology—flat-out rude, dismissive attitudes.”)
If you're not up for the wait and looking for a new coffee fix, you might want to consider an old standby (and my go-to): 7-Eleven. Many car enthusiasts switched to the convenience store/gas station coffee after the #carsof7eleven hashtag went viral. The company dangled the possibility that our photos of our cars and their coffee might make it onto the official 7-Eleven socials, and the joe was good enough for many of us to switch over.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Why San Diego Starbucks are suffering
Homeless, too many locations, upstarts like Dutch Bros., and – 7-11
Why San Diego Starbucks are suffering
Homeless, too many locations, upstarts like Dutch Bros., and – 7-11
"Homeless dude came in and pissed in the corner in front of everyone when he was told the bathrooms were closed."
The last time I attended a Reader meeting at Starbucks, I noticed that most of the soft, comfortable chairs were gone. The days of lingering with friends, toasting Frappuccinos and lattes, or drinking a Trenta iced coffee solo while studying for finals, seemed like they were a thing of the past.
On September 25, Brian Niccol, chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks, said that those Starbucks locations that are “unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners (employees) expect, or where we don’t see a path to financial performance .... will be closed.” A dozen locations in San Diego County shuttered shortly after.
Lake Murray Blvd. Most blame the shutdowns on the vast number of Starbucks throughout the county, which is approximately 130-plus.
But why? Local coffee drinkers and baristas offered some answers.
On Reddit, deflatedTaco said that the Santee trolley stop location shut down because of “significant issues with mentally unstable people due to the proximity to the trolley stop and it being the end of the line.” I’ve witnessed sketchy folks in San Diego area Starbucks for the last 20 or so years, moreso when there was more comfortable seating and the bathrooms didn’t have codes.
Loyal customers and baristas had similar assessments. Itemside continued on a local Reddit post about the closures, “Yeah, I wasn’t surprised to see one I used to frequent on the list for closure. Homeless dude came in and pissed in the corner in front of everyone when he was told the bathrooms were closed. Workers said it was the second or third time that had happened that week.”
Many of us car enthusiasts switched to 7-11 coffee after the #carsof7eleven hashtag went viral.
The majority of San Diegans blamed the shutdowns on the vast number of Starbucks throughout the county, which was approximately 130. Customers who were sad about the closing of the store at Mira Mesa Boulevard and Camino Santa Fe could choose from three other locations less than a mile away.
Local coffee drinker Raph Koster added, “The Twin Peaks location competed with the one inside the Target a couple hundred feet away. The Bernardo Center one [was] a bit more of a surprise as it had loads of seating and was a popular hangout spot for the retirees in the area. But there’s a Peet’s in the opposite corner of the parking lot, and a Starbucks in the Vons down at that end of the parking lot, too.”
And it’s not just Peet’s or Better Buzz that has tapped the coffee conglomerate’s market share. Mostra, Bird Rock, Coffee Cycle, and over a dozen others were mentioned on a popular Reddit post titled “Best coffee in SD that’s not Starbucks, Peet’s or Better Buzz.”
Dutch Bros. is another popular option. It's a drive-thru coffee joint I’ve been frequenting in Arizona since 2018. Now it's arrived in San Diego. (The place has been trending with the help of influencers, and that, combined with the shuttering of local Starbucks, has proven a blessing and a curse. the Dutch Bros and sisters, or "Briostas," have been so slammed that impatient Yelpers and Google reviewers have been dropping one-star reviews. Aly V. posted on September 26, “I waited in a long line, and despite being there well before several other cars, the staff prioritized orders from people who arrived after me. No explanation, no apology—flat-out rude, dismissive attitudes.”)
If you're not up for the wait and looking for a new coffee fix, you might want to consider an old standby (and my go-to): 7-Eleven. Many car enthusiasts switched to the convenience store/gas station coffee after the #carsof7eleven hashtag went viral. The company dangled the possibility that our photos of our cars and their coffee might make it onto the official 7-Eleven socials, and the joe was good enough for many of us to switch over.
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