Starbucks to stop selling alcohol at more than 400 U.S. stores

[Tom_Gibson]

@PeterJ

@John Morris

@Corey N.

I actually get what Sbux was thinking. They were already paying rent and probably had few late night visitors other than students who wanted to study late/cheap and use the free wi-fi. It was a shot at bringing in substantially more revenue during non-peak hours for little marginal cost.

That’s what Dunkin Brands tried. They owned Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins. Not surprisingly, they don’t sell a lot of ice cream in the morning and coffee and donut sales taper off in the afternoon. That’s why they started issuing dual franchises, and both brands and products were offered. That didn’t work so well, either, as I recall. I haven’t seen one of those shops in a while. It’s straight coffee/donuts or ice cream now, I think.

I’m curious. Pretty sure whatever company owns BR also owns Quuzno’s. They sold dual franchises on that model. My wife refuses to even go in because the smells of sandwich making ruin the ice cream experience for her. I’m not that sensitive to whatever her odor issue might be, but I DO pick up a lot of strong ‘kitchens’ odors the few times I’ve gone in. On paper it’s no different from any restaurant that serves sandwiches and dessert. But, then, you’re not sitting in the kitchen of those places, so…

BR is part of Dunkin Brands last I knew. Dunkin is owned mostly by Bain (not sure if anyone else has a stake). I don’t think Quizno’s is owned by Bain or affiliated with Dunkin.

Source: Boston guy.

[John_Morris]

@Tom Gibson

BR is part of Dunkin Brands last I knew. Dunkin is owned mostly by Bain (not sure if anyone else has a stake). I don’t think Quizno’s is owned by Bain or affiliated with Dunkin.

Bain Capital, Thomas H Lee Partners (both based in Boston) and Carlyle Group bought the company from Pernod Ricard, the French drinks company, in 2006. They took it public in 2011 and don’t hold any substantial stakes now, according to the latest proxy statement.

Quiznos was also bought by a private equity firm, Avenue Capital, in 2012. I think it was privately held before then. It filed for Chapter 11 in 2014.

The one time I went into one of their shops, circa 2006, the place and the food were both vile.

[Tom_Gibson]

@John Morris

@Tom Gibson

BR is part of Dunkin Brands last I knew. Dunkin is owned mostly by Bain (not sure if anyone else has a stake). I don’t think Quizno’s is owned by Bain or affiliated with Dunkin.

Bain Capital, Thomas H Lee Partners (both based in Boston) and Carlyle Group bought the company from Pernod Ricard, the French drinks company, in 2006. They took it public in 2011 and don’t hold any substantial stakes now, according to the latest proxy statement.

Quiznos was also bought by a private equity firm, Avenue Capital, in 2012. I think it was privately held before then. It filed for Chapter 11 in 2014.

The one time I went into one of their shops, circa 2006, the place and the food were both vile.

Oh, I think I assumed Bain held large ownership post-IPO. Whoops. Also, yes, Quizno’s is disgusting. Also, not related but sparked a memory, Firehouse Subs is equally gross.

[Frank_Drew]

@tcavallo

I actually made a couple gallons of grappa this season…

How cool! Did you have a whole distilling setup or was it more fabbed up from equipment you had laying around? Was it single grape variety?

[lleichtman]

@Michael Martin

Never made it to Colorado, but my sister in San Diego said they sold wine there, Apothic Red was a choice. Non starter.

Perhaps, in Colorado, Washington, California, Oregon, and now a few more states they could put in a dispensary.

[Anthony_Lombardi]

One would hardly call this a “fail”. Starbucks throws up test balloons all the time to add product offerings & the choices of beer and wine were hardly cost prohibitive.

What likely happened is the program went under a different person’s supervision or purview, they weren’t supportive of it compared to other priorities and numbers probably didn’t back it up to keep it. Just business.

[Nick_Ryan]

@PeterJ

I’m curious. Pretty sure whatever company owns BR also owns Quuzno’s. They sold dual franchises on that model. My wife refuses to even go in because the smells of sandwich making ruin the ice cream experience for her. I’m not that sensitive to whatever her odor issue might be, but I DO pick up a lot of strong ‘kitchens’ odors the few times I’ve gone in. On paper it’s no different from any restaurant that serves sandwiches and dessert. But, then, you’re not sitting in the kitchen of those places, so…

Same with me… if I walk into a sugar-oriented place (ice cream, pearl tea, coffee, etc.) there better not be food cooking or I’m out. There was a pearl tea place around here that had the brilliant idea to start making tuna sandwiches on the side. The combination of odors was indescribable.

[PeterJ]

@John Morris

@Tom Gibson

BR is part of Dunkin Brands last I knew. Dunkin is owned mostly by Bain (not sure if anyone else has a stake). I don’t think Quizno’s is owned by Bain or affiliated with Dunkin.

Bain Capital, Thomas H Lee Partners (both based in Boston) and Carlyle Group bought the company from Pernod Ricard, the French drinks company, in 2006. They took it public in 2011 and don’t hold any substantial stakes now, according to the latest proxy statement.

Quiznos was also bought by a private equity firm, Avenue Capital, in 2012. I think it was privately held before then. It filed for Chapter 11 in 2014.

The one time I went into one of their shops, circa 2006, the place and the food were both vile.

Now that I think about it more… it’s a Togo’s in with BR, not Quizno’s. I don’t know which years but the two were owned by the same parent at some point. This must be a franchise location.

Togo's

[Mike_DiSalvo]

@Anton D

Dang, I never knew they started.

Evening Bailey’s coffee or Irish Coffee would have been neat, especially at drive through!

Throw a shot (or two) of Grand Marnier along with the Bailey’s in your coffee and give it a whirl. Great on a cold night or any night for that matter. I came up with that one all by myself in the early 1980’s when I was bartending.

[David_Mc]

@Jason T

@John Morris

A couple of years ago, Starbucks bought Panera, saying they hoped that would help them improve their own food offering. So far that part of the strategy doesn’t seem to have succeeded. I’ve never seen a sandwich that I liked at a Starbucks. Fixing the food offerings would seem like a no-brainer way to speed up growth in sales.

Actually I believe it was La Boulangerie out of San Francisco that they purchased. But the point about the food not being great stands.

purchased and liquidated last year http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/did-starbucks-buy-and-close-la-boulange-just-get-its-recipes-165468

[Colby_Scott]

@David Wright

Behold the Dunkin Donuts/Baskin-Robbins donut ice cream sandwich:

My blood pressure spiked just looking at that…

[Jonathan_Loesberg]

All Starbuck’s meant to do was sell glasses of wine and mugs of beer along with cups of coffee. This would have made them like a gazillion bar-cafés across Europe, or, for that matter, a gazillion restaurants in the U.S. who let you sit at a table and have a cup of coffee or a drink without ordering food. I understand why it didn’t work for their brand. But the business model is neither new nor unachievable. It is old and everywhere.