Starbucks is a world –renowned coffee shop/ cafe business , geared towards middle class clients. It sells itself on the variety of flavours of coffee beans it has available, the smell of it greeting you when you walk in. This shop is in the middle of a busy shopping precinct, an ideal location for its business. The trademark ‘Starbucks’ logo is clearly seen, especially on all the mugs, a good advertising idea, when you think about the take-away cups as well. The entrance is welcoming, long open windows, showing the interior, which is tastefully decorated and classier than Kentucky Fried or McDonalds. However, some people might like to be less noticeable in the inside, so they would have to look for seats away from the entrance, which is not that easy as it was really busy when we were there. Tables are generally small, for twos mostly and as Starbucks is encouraging people to come in and try out the coffee it is probably trying to attract business people-there is wi-fi available or occasional shoppers, wanting a coffee break in comfortable surroundings. It doesn’t really cater for families, tables are too small and the menu and price would not suit most families. They would be more likely to go to Kentucky Fried or McDonalds. The staff are easily recognisable and behave in a way expected by the company. They are polite and promote the good reputation of the company, saying our staff are friendly, welcoming and attentive. The tables are close together, which gets more people in, which is good for business but not so good for privacy, if you needed it. People on their own looked more conspicuous. Maybe the soft -seat area could be arranged to be more appealing to individuals and be sectioned off more, with magazines / newspapers available for people to browse through. There could be a screen showing aspects of Starbucks business fading in /out so people on their own have something to focus on and perhaps company close by, making it easier to start a conversation. There could be pleasant music playing in the background.
Overall, Starbucks has carefully considered the market it is catering for and going by how busy the shop was when we were in, it is very successful.
