So fresh they're ....

Commerce When Sayers announced they'd be closing a range of their bakeries in Liverpool a couple of months ago, they carefully listed which they'd be and when so as not to create uncertainty amongst their staff and customers. It seems to have been the larger spots including the venerable old restaurant half way down Bold Street (which is strange because it was always busy when I passed by).

It in the US, Starbucks, though a much larger company, have 'fumbled' a similar move with no one really knowing which shops would be closing leading stress amongst their barristas -- both because of the uncertainty of their employment position and the constant, repeated barrage of questions from coffee lovers trying to find out if their local caffeine hit outlet will be leaving them.

One poster to the Starbucks Gossip blog has found an ingenious way of finding out his job is in jeopardy:
"I have been with the company for a couple of years. I along with everyone else have been on pins and needles wondering about the fate of my store. While on the internet today I just had a crazy idea to look for commercial property for sale in my home town. Guess what I found..... a picture and a listing for my third place......waiting for a phone call. Really sad that respect & dignity are lost on www.....they become only words"
Slowly but surely, I'm loving Starbucks the company less and less. Good job their coffee is still so tasty.

2 comments:

Ian Jones said...

I can't believe they're shutting the one on Bold Street. I used to love going in there. They made the nicest hot buttered toast I've ever tasted. What's the reason for the closures?

Stuart Ian Burns said...

Already gone I'm afraid.

I think it was for all the reasons you can suspect. Their main rival Greggs has been making in roads, people aren't eating bakery as much for health reasons plus everywhere there's a Sayers these days a Subway isn't too far away which is an odd pattern and money's tight all round. It was just a shock to see a venerable old company depleted almost overnight. They've been rebranding a bit too trying to come across as more 'traditional'.