Return Of The Fern Bar? Starbucks Tiptoes Towards Beer And Wine.

Can the return of  Henry Africa be far behind?  Starbucks, in an effort to find more ways to make money off of potables, is dipping its toe into the wine and beer market.  According to Thursday's reports, the chain is stripping one of its Seattle stores of the company title and renaming it 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea.   In addition to the usual drinks, the new store will offer wine and beer. 

This all makes sense to me.   During the day, this store will probably move primarily non-liquor beverages.  After dark, however, when many Starbucks see a perilous dip in demand, the potential consumer population becomes more diverse.  How often have you wanted a cup of coffee when a friend wanted to grab a drink?   Port is always a good choice after 9, so I'd hope they'll have a nice Taylor Fladgate.  Of course if I were advising Howard Schultz, the Starbucks CEO, I'd tell him to include Baileys, Kahluah, and Bushmills in the cupboard.  They'll want to draw in the coffee-plus crowd as well.  I can hear the convivial laughter already. 

And once they've nailed this liquor thing, perhaps they could move on to food!

Comments

[Alfred]

Starbucks has its own brand of coffee liquor already; I it when I was in a Pennsylvania package store recently. Now I realize there's a whole story here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Starbucks_Coffee_Liqueur_40/content_175749762692

It's undoubtedly better than that beer with coffee I had when we were at AALS last year:
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2008/12/caffine-and-alcohol.html

[Knoxville Cabling Company]

They way they are going, if they continue at this rate...Has anyone seen Idiocracy? LOL

[Liz]

Isn't the vast majority of Starbucks' revenue generated with take-out? Selling alcohol, which legally has to be consumed on-site, seems like a pretty major divergence. I know they like to market their cuddly "let's hang out at Starbucks" image, but in reality I have never been to a Starbucks with anywhere near the capacity to hold even 1/10th of their hourly customers.

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