The Adelaide metropolitan area only opened three Starbucks stores, with its first one opening in March 2006 and there was very little hype when they came to town, except made by the ex-pats. In fact, I had been in there only once before yesterday, its closing day, because we have better local coffee chains such as CIBO, Bean Bar and the Italian Illy cafés. Although being on the major shopping street in the city, it failed to do very well here. Their prices are really overpriced for coffee that isn’t that great. But me and my friend Jen both wanted an Adelaide mug (just because) but it was too late, the store was wiped clean.
In the mid-1990s, I worked at a café that was affiliated with Starbucks in San Francisco. Back then, there were official Starbucks barista trainers that used to fly in from Seattle to train every barista how to make coffee drinks Starbucks style – complete with illustrations of the drinks. I was in awe of Starbucks back then and thought that they were so cool. Starbucks was even known as a great company to work for, treating their employees well and offering great benefits for even their part-time employees. I knew that Starbucks were expanding too quickly when I went to Vancouver and saw a Starbucks on just about every corner! After years of studying Chaucer’s works, the pièce de résistance was when I finally made it to Canterbury cathedral in England and was shocked when I saw a Starbucks at the entrance to the beautiful and historical cathedral! It really ruined the facade to the entrance of the cathedral! What ruined my experience even more was that there were a few Starbucks employees handing out samples of muffins and cakes – it just seemed wrong. See pictures below:
Fast forward to 2005 when I moved to Adelaide and was surprised that there was no Starbucks in sight. I thought, “wow, a city that Starbucks still hadn’t penetrated.” I got used to the coffee terms and culture here very quickly. People in Australia take their coffee very seriously and there are plenty of places that will teach you to be a bona fide barista. The one thing that I love about a proper coffee made in Australia is that really good baristas can foam the milk so finely that it has the texture of marshmallows floating on top of the espresso. That type of finely made espresso drink is hard to find in the states – perhaps it’s because America is much more of a drip-coffee country. Order a drip coffee in Australia and you will be met with a lot of confusion…don’t even ask for “cream” with your coffee, you’ll be met with even more confusion – ask for milk.
I recently went back to the states to a Starbucks and the coffee was, to plainly put it, shit. I asked for a latte and it tasted burnt and I got barely any foam. I went back to tell the barista that I would like some foam and he said, “oh, it’s just that a lot people here feel cheated if they get too much foam.” That’s fine if people don’t want foam but I didn’t ask for no foam. Sigh… It’s sad because I used to be such a Starbucks fan but now their quality has gone down and their prices inflated. Don’t get me wrong, I still like Starbucks as a company. I do really hope that with all these closings, they will re-train their employees and bring back the quality of their drinks back to what it was before the mega-expansion of over 16,000 worldwide stores.
Here are a few links to news stories on the closure of hundreds of Starbucks:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24099400-5013404,00.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92151783
**Coffee language tips for people coming to Australia:
Flat White – espresso shot with hot milk and very little/no foam (like a latte w/less foam)
Short Black – one shot espresso with hot water
Long Black – double-shot espresso with hot water (like an Americano)
I love this post! Thanks for stopping by at my blog too 🙂
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LOL!! Oh no!! Mine has yet to be closed down (if ever). Although, it may already be closed and I just don’t know it since I haven’t been to work there in almost a month!! miss you! ja——–ne!!!!
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I went looking for an Adelaide mug that last day too….too late as well. Yep, the only good thing about Starbucks was all the xmas cheer…the coffee is junk. What do you reckon is the best coffee shop in Adelaide. I’m still trying them all, which is a great things….that there are so many different places to go.
Suzer
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Thanks Kat.
Hey Jin, there is no way that your Starbucks will close, it’s too busy…but I did hear that the one next to P F Chang’s will close. I just never understood why there were 3 in the Ward area. Miss you too! xoxo
Hi Suzer, I heard that there was a line out the door the day before closing with people looking to buy up stuff. Have you been to Gouter on Melbourne St? They don’t have the longest opening hours but we love their coffee (they serve it with a tiny cookie) and their food is fab – especially their soups and their scrambled eggs. Kinda pricey but well worth it, way more than the organic cafe on Melbourne St (which is about the same price). If you go on a Sat, make sure you arrive before 1pm, they stop serving food then!…welcome to Adelaide…
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Oh, we don’t have any in Perth. I thought we might get one but now i doubt it. Hubby brought me back one of those mega mugs from Hobart when he was there for work earlier in the year. I have never been to starbucks so i don’t know what their coffee is like.
I’m still waiting for Krispy Kreme donuts to come over to perth. They seem expensive but i’d like to try them once. Are they worth all the hype?
We recently started getting The Coffee Club over here, and there was alot of hype, but the coffee is crap. I think they put two shots in a latte, where it’s only meant to have one, so it’s too strong for me. Their service is also really terrible, and quite often the staff member has asked me what the price was, when it was her job to know!
I took my mum there for coffee because she wanted to try the place out. They totally forgot about our coffees, we waited for 30 minutes. Then they had no idea exactly what coffees we had ordered. Another ten minutes went by before we received the coffee, and we did not get any apology, we just got handed a voucher for a free coffee. The voucher expired in less than 2 weeks!!
We’ve never been back there since. I for one, think customer service is just as important as the food and drink they are serving.
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Azumarisan, that Hobart mug might be worth something now since they closed that store too! haha. YES, Krispy Kreme is well worth the hype but you HAVE to eat it HOT off the belt – not the cold stuff that they sell in Sydney at their outlets.
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Hello Michelle..
I collect starbucks mug specially the ones from Australia.. I was wondering if you have mugs that you are willing to sell or trade. Thanks..
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Hi Poul,
Unfortunately, I have no Starbucks Australian mugs. I tried to get to the Starbucks in Adelaide before the closed up to buy one but they sold out very quickly. As we don’t have anymore Starbucks here, I have no access to any mugs. Sorry.
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Sheesh, Hobart already shut down? I had no idea! Oh well i better wash it VERY carefully then! 🙂
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Interesting post. I used to work for Starbucks, too when they took over Pasqua Coffee a few ears back and they were very strict with how they mad their coffees then. I remember my manager show ing me the water filter calibrated to filter the water so it would be exactly like the water in Seattle. So you always got a cup of coffee the way they made it in Seattle. I remember being very impressed and a little freaked out by it. The whole thing has a gotten really out of control lately though. By my job, there are literally five Starbucks stores within a two block radius of my office. I’m glad they’re downsizing. The madness needs to stop!
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Fantasticly written..I found this while doing a market positioning assignment…and coffee popped in my head…my favourate topic:D…kept wondering why thers only one starbucks in adelaide…thanks for the info!
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Hello everyone..
I collect starbucks mugs from Australia.. I am looking to buy or trade.. Please e-mail me if you are willing to sell at poultoxqui@hotmail.com.
Thanks..
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