starbucks vs gloria jeans

Starbucks Coffee shops closed down at 2pm today for management meeting on the future of stores in Melbourne. Photo by Justin McManus and taken from an article from theage.com.au

Starbucks announced yesterday that they are closing 61 out of 84 outlets here across Australia. That's like 73% of their stores here. They will all be closed by Sunday... that's in 4 days' time. Imagine the number of jobs affected. They're not doing great in the U.S. either as the closure of 600 stores affecting some 12,000 jobs in the U.S. was announced last month. You can read the full article here.

Coincidentally, I had a rather disgusting cup of mocha from Starbucks a few days ago and had wanted to blog-bitch about it but had forgotten to do so (until I was reminded by this article). The mocha kinda tasted like extremely diluted coffee with too much milk. A friend ordered a white chocolate drink and it totally tasted like diluted hot milk. It was so gross I wonder how he managed to finish it.

The barista got all the milk-coffee proportions wrong. We ordered coffee/chocolate drinks with milk, not milk with dashes of coffee/chocolate. That's like a world of difference. One doesn't need to go through an entire barista course to know this.

I must say I was utterly disappointed by that disgusting mocha (or milk?). My coffee experiences with Starbucks in Canada were awesome. Great coffee, fantastic service. I couldn't survive a day without my regular vanilla latte during my approx. one month's stay in Whistler. Can't say the same for what we have here in OZ (and in Singapore too - how can I forget the overpriced and yucky cappuccinos I had).

Having had a week of great mochas from Gloria Jeans prior to this bad Starbucks experience, I was amazed that Starbucks is still surviving here... until I read this article. There's a quote in the article: "In America, Starbucks is a state of mind. In Australia, it was simply another player". I think the reverse is true here.

I'm not sorry that Starbucks is not doing that well. But I feel sorry for all those whose livelihoods will be affected. Even though I don't like that japanese chick who made my super yucky mocha, I don't want her to lose her job. Losing her job is too high a price to pay for making disgusting coffee. Besides, she's rather polite and has a cute smile too. All you people should go visit her at the Starbucks outlet opposite Hyde Park to give her an encouraging pat on the back and tell her, "it's ok, I'm sure you'll find a better job elsewhere, maybe try Gloria Jeans, they'll teach you to make better mochas too."