Starbucks laying off heaps & closing stores, blames recession, boycotts & Mc Donalds.

Run_to_da_hills

Starbucks Coffee chain are laying off heaps around the world, they are blaming the recession, boycotts and people choosing MC Donald's speciality coffees in preference,( says something for their coffee.:) )

I personally prefer Insomnia to Starbrooks and haven't taken one for at least two years, last time in London (Because I needed to use their jacks ) . Are Starbucks big in Ireland?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1131406/Starbucks-set-axe-hundreds-jobs-UK.html

Mr Magnolia

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Starbucks Coffee chain are laying off heaps around the world, they are blaming the recession, boycotts and people choosing MC Donald's speciality coffees in preference,( says something for their coffee.:) )

I've read many times that McD's coffee is a lot better than Starbucks, must do a comparison myself at some stage.

Are Starbucks big in Ireland?

Not as big as they'd like to be. There was word earlier last year about major plans for expansion in Ireland, mainly in Dublin. I can't see this happening now though, they've made losses in trading in Ireland over the last number of years while the popularity of coffee is still on the rise. Irish people's taste must account for something

jaffa20

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

I've read many times that McD's coffee is a lot better than Starbucks, must do a comparison myself at some stage.



Not as big as they'd like to be. There was word earlier last year about major plans for expansion in Ireland, mainly in Dublin. I can't see this happening now though, they've made losses in trading in Ireland over the last number of years while the popularity of coffee is still on the rise. Irish people's taste must account for something

There's a starbucks everywhere you look in town I prefer insomnia coffee too. It's much stronger and smoother. I tried Mc D's coffee once and wasn't impressed. it was cheap though

DublinWriter

Starbucks coffee is perhaps one of the worst I've ever tasted...the missus thought I actually bought her tea the last time I was there and got her a Latte.

I can't understand what the fuss is all about. Maybe it's just one of those 'aspirational brand' marketing things that make people want to go there.

I find the coffee at O'Briens to be vastly superior with Insomnia coming a close second.

SoupyNorman

jaffa20 wrote: »

There's a starbucks everywhere you look in town I prefer insomnia coffee too. It's much stronger and smoother. I tried Mc D's coffee once and wasn't impressed. it was cheap though

I got a coffee from Mc'Ds yesterday and was impressed.


StarBucks is overpriced drainwater, I like the coffee from Munchies and Bon Espresso.

IsThatSo?

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

I've read many times that McD's coffee is a lot better than Starbucks, must do a comparison myself at some stage.

Much better:) that or Costa would be my choice when out and about.

brettmirl

The coffee in the O'Briens near me is absolute muck compared to McDs coffee.

Not too gone on their Lattes, but their Americanos are quite nice, and priced at €2.35 for a large one.

madmik

o briens coffee is **** in the stevens green branch

its like they made it with dirty dishwater or smthing

Jaysoose

Starbucks is pure dishwater and as overpriced as i gets. Good riddance.

Faith

I think Starbucks' coffee is pretty crap, but I love the coffee shops themselves. They're a great place to meet friends and spend an afternoon there. It's a lovely atmosphere.

Catari Jaguar

Starbucks is overcrowded and filthy. Ironically it's the McDonalds of cafes imho. I like Butlers for a nice Mocha and my little cafe beside work that I won't name because it's my private hideout for relaxing.

11811

Faith wrote: »

I think Starbucks' coffee is pretty crap, but I love the coffee shops themselves. They're a great place to meet friends and spend an afternoon there. It's a lovely atmosphere.

Yeah, not mad about the coffee,(its alright for lattes etc) but the stores are quite nice.
They've great mugs too.

Faith

Lil Kitten wrote: »

Starbucks is overcrowded and filthy. Ironically it's the McDonalds of cafes imho.:D

Depends where you are. If you're talking about Dublin, well 'filthy and overcrowded' could be used to describe the whole city . Over here, they're clean and not crowded, with plenty of armchairs to curl up on.

Cuddleworthy wrote: »

Yeah, not mad about the coffee,(its alright for lattes etc) but the stores are quite nice.
They've great mugs too.

Yeah, the mugs are pretty good alright :pac:.

SomeDude

I've heard that McCafe are supplied by java republic. Anyone know if this is true? Their coffee seems pretty decent. I always liked the bald barrista on georges st, think they changed ownership recently though.

roscoerules

Starbucks is a coffee shop for people who like coffee shops, but find the taste of coffee a little icky. So they go to starbucks to suckle on a bucket of warm flavoured milk in an imitation coffee shop straight out of a teen movie. This is the ‘grown up’ version of going into mc donalds and ordering a Mc flurry to eat while sitting in the adventure playground.

IsThatSo?

SomeDude wrote: »

I've heard that McCafe are supplied by java republic. Anyone know if this is true? Their coffee seems pretty decent.

I thought it was Kenco, but not sure why I thought that!!

rotinaj

IsThatSo? wrote: »

I thought it was Kenco, but not sure why I thought that!!

It is Kenco. Well up until late last year anyway. I used to work for the crowed that supplied their machines.

Blong!hahaha

roscoerules wrote: »

Starbucks is a coffee shop for people who like coffee shops, but find the taste of coffee a little icky. So they go to starbucks to suckle on a bucket of warm flavoured milk in an imitation coffee shop straight out of a teen movie. This is the ‘grown up’ version of going into mc donalds and ordering a Mc flurry to eat while sitting in the adventure playground.

I like both 'real' coffee and what you can get in Starbucks. By real coffee I mean the kind you make yourself from complete scratch by roasting the beans. Should I feel insulted by what you wrote? I found Starbucks chai tea latte delish. Some people just like Starbucks. Are they bad people? Why be elitist about something like this? It's just somewhere to sit down and chill. It's not a big deal.

carrieb

Having just returned from 6 months living in Italy I went to Starbucks, ordered a tal (so they couldn't fit too much milk in!) latte, with an extra shot & still couldn't taste the coffee!!!!
They are all filthy & the staff are always either too friendly in a freaky way or downright rude! It's bizarre. I used to love SB, not anymore. Am so over it!!

snollup

There are quite a few really good independent coffee shops about town (Dublin) that is so why anyone would go to any of the big chains is beyond me.

Exar Khun

Blong!hahaha wrote: »

Some people just like Starbucks. Are they bad people? Why be elitist about something like this? It's just somewhere to sit down and chill. It's not a big deal.

Exactly.

On topic.

I imagine lots of companies business is slowing down and are cutting losses so its no surprise really.

Kintarō Hattori

I don't think I've ever had a Starbucks that was nice. In London you can't walk 50M without seeing one, thankfully it's not like that here. Insomin can vary in quality. The one in Rathmines makes very tastey coffee and heavenly hot chocolate while the one by the Luas is just shocking. Each and every time the missus and myself have ordered a latte it's been incredibly bitter, to the point that they must roast the crap out of the beans. It's truely dreadful.

I have to say I like the latte you get in Lemon Jelly on the Millenium walkway, it's very smooth.

Mr Magnolia

Coffee consumption in general is still on the rise though.

Pepe LeFrits

The coffee in my local Starbucks is nice. I've been to three or four others in the last year or so and they were nice enough too. They are way more comfortable to hang about in than most of the other chains, where seating seems to be an afterthought.

Special points to Starbucks in Blackrock for the great view.

Of course, it is still very trendy these days to rag on Starbucks.

Slaphead07

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Of course, it is still very trendy these days to rag on Starbucks.

it's also very trendy to drink there... in some circles.

Khannie

I find starbucks to be.....ok. Can't say I've ever had a stand out coffee at one of their restraunts (one way or the other).

I've actually had decent americano twice at two different Butlers (the chocolate place) in the airport. The baristas seem to actually pay attention to what they're doing there which is nice. I complimented them both.

IIMII

I've come to the conclusion that when you get a mop bucket coffee from anywhere, it's generally because they haven't changed the coffee grains. Happens a fair bit in Starbucks and On the Run

RE*AC*TOR

I find espresso based drinks, incl Americanos and milk based espresso drinks from Starbucks to be of very poor quality. Having said that I'd hold that opinion of 99% of coffee shops in Ireland.

Their filter coffee on the other hand, I have found on occassion to be quite palatable, that said, it's probably been over a year since I last consumed a Starbucks drink.

the_syco

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

Coffee consumption in general is still on the rise though.

Caffine hit ftw!

=-=

I hate coffee, but most people I know likes the insomnia coffee.

fjon

When they arrived to Ireland first I really wanted to like them. I quite like the stores, comfortable seats and surroundings. I'd also had good experience with some of their chilled coffee drinks when over in the US.
However, no matter how much I tried I could never really get a good coffee from any of them.
I've given up now and stick with Costa or Insomnia if I can find them.

alastair

I remember when the first (or possibly second) Starbucks arrived in Manhattan - I'd heard about this Seattle chain that was supposed to do great coffee in nice environments. Have to say it lived up to the hype for a cold coffee drinker like myself.

The quality has gone downhill over the years, but I still think they're hard to beat on the coffee-in-a-sweet-slushy-format front. The Espresso frappachino with an extra shot (and hold the cream) can be very nice (if that kind of thing floats your boat), and the regular iced coffee is usually fine.

admiralofthefleet

SoupyNorman wrote: »

Bon Espresso.

best coffee in dublin, imo

mental07

There's a 'gourmet' coffee place on Westmoreland St. in Dublin that I used to get takeaway from while waiting at the bus-stop...it was quite good. Is it still there? I can't for the life of me think of the name of it! It was/is beside O'Brien's, I think....

And back on topic...I like Starbucks