Starbucks - Going back to the basics

Originally posted on Typepad - March 5, 2008

Much has been made about Howard Schultz taking the reigns back leading Starbucks. As a former employee, I appreciate the third place concept but beyond that I appreciate the value Starbucks puts on creating an experience for their customers - with overpriced coffee! Here is an excerpt from his letter to his employees. Read it in it's entirety here. By the way, I love how Starbucks refers to employees as partners.

We are at our best when we are entrepreneurial and courageous, push for innovation and reject the status quo. We are leaders not followers--we leave that for others.

We are the third place in the lives of millions of our customers. We are the coffee that brings people together every day around the world to foster conversation and community.

As Starbucks partners, we are bound together by the passion we have for our coffee and the customer experience. More than 170,000 of us stand for quality and an uncompromising ethical standard. We uphold our guiding principles by demonstrating respect and dignity for one another, and for our customers. (emphasis added)

I read the letter from Mark Waltz's blog.

I know all is not perfect with Starbucks but they do a good job at what they do. Like or dislike The Bucks?