Over the past week, many Americans were snuggling down into their homes after a bountiful Thanksgiving dinner. Others, however, were encountering strange concoctions from their favorite coffee joint, which may be stirring people away.
First, a controversy erupted in Oklahoma, a strange location for a striking news story. A police officer who was working on Thanksgiving Day stopped in for a nice beverage to lighten the mood. When he picked up his order, he noticed something wrong with the spelling of their name. Normally, Starbucks baristas are notorious for spelling simple names incorrectly, but this officer was petrified to see that the barista entered his name as “Pig.”
The barista has since apologized for the incident, claiming that the action was only being used as a joke on the other barista, hoping that they would call out the name “pig. ” However, I do think that this can negatively affect the perception of the company. Starbucks needs to reinforce professionalism amongst its workers. By screwing around like this, the company can lose many customers due to a simple misunderstanding that would have been avoided if the barista simply followed their job. Starbucks has announced that they have fired this employee for their lack of respect of a customer, especially a police officer who is spending their Thanksgiving away from home and protecting other families.
Additionally, another incident occurred when customers began noticing dead lizards in their drinks. At this Starbucks location in Hawaii, there have been multiple reports of customers finding dead lizards, and because of the lizard bacteria, the coffee is scaring customers who are not interested in ingesting harmful substances. I do believe that this is partially a regional issue, seeing that there might be a larger portion of lizards in Hawaii. However, this should not stop Starbucks from offering assistance to correct the issue. The company should reinforce to all of its stores that cleanliness and sanitation are core values in the company. Additionally, the company should offer help to this location to tackle the issue.
Finally, I would like to close out this week’s blog with a look at the stocks over the holiday. Over the holiday season, people receive money from family members and decide that it is a great time to purchase stock and increase investments. At closing time on Friday, Starbucks’s stock was balanced at $85.43 USD. This shows a large margin of growth from last week. The company’s growth seemed pretty constant throughout the week with a slight jump up on Thursday. The entire growth over the last week is pictured below.
Last but finally not least, I believe that it is time for my weekly drink recommendation. It was nice to go back to Starbucks and enjoy my regular drink. However, I did enjoy something else that I have not yet mentioned in this blog. This week, I am not recommending a drink, but a tasty snack that you can enjoy with whatever drink you like. I am recommending any variation of the Starbucks cake pops. Personally, I am a fan of the cookie dough or the peppermint brownie cake pops. However, I think this is a nice treat to sweeten up your day and fill your stomach for the time being. With that, I wish you a nice week with lots of cake pops! Happy holidays!
Sources:
Jenna Kurtz 