Starbucks

Hipsters, Dot rats not meant to interact

adamg — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 21:31:04 +0000

If you're one of those people who thinks Starbucks would be much improved if all the hipsters disappeared, you'll love this karmic post.

Court: Starbucks has no grounds to let supervisors share in barista tips

adamg — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 04:47:28 +0000

A federal appeals court ruled today Starbucks owes Massachusetts baristas more than $14 million for tips that were shared with supervisors between 2005 and 2011, because state law bars managers from dipping into the tip jar.

Starbucks tried to pour cold water on a class-action suit on behalf of more than 11,000 former and current baristas by arguing that "shift supervisors" weren't really managers because they mostly did the same work as baristas and so were entitled to the perk of sharing in pooled tips collected from customers.

But in a scalding decision, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston told Starbucks that the Massachusetts tip law is about as explicit as can be that managers are not allowed to share in tips and that shift supervisors are, indeed, managers:

Starbucks to get customers all charged up

adamg — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:27:18 +0000

The Globe reports the chain will pilot wireless cellphone charging at 17 Boston outlets. You'll need a special mat to put under your phone to soak in all the wireless electricity, but Starbucks says it may have some to give away or to let customers borrow.

Wireless power technology has advanced a bit since the days when Nikola Tesla built his 187-foot-high Wardenclyffe tower on Long Island:

Who'da thunk it: South Boston to get a Starbucks before Jamaica Plain

adamg — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 19:28:20 +0000

The Boston Licensing Board today granted a food-serving license to a Starbucks proposed for 11 West Broadway in South Boston, with hours of 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

In other Southie dining news, the board also approved a license for Al's Pizza and Grill at 402 West Broadway.

A latte love in Chelsea

adamg — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:33:00 +0000

The Chelsea Record can't restrain its enthusiasm for the city's first Starbucks - finally, proof that Chelsea is no longer a gritty backwater where people have no appreciation for "a richer, sometimes exotically mixed cup of coffee" but instead a more refined community on the move:

A Starbucks in Chelsea is a good barometer of things that are happening here.

Better yet, it is a good barometer of things to come.

We welcome Starbucks.

What a wonderful addition to the mall.

Brewing battle for Cleveland Circle as Starbucks gets ready to open up shop

adamg — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:48:04 +0000

The Boston Licensing Board today approved a license for a Starbucks at 1944 Beacon St., across the street from a Dunkin' Donuts.

The coffee is always blacker on the other side of the fence

adamg — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:41:25 +0000

Rhea Becker reports she was feeling kind of bad when a woman who turned out to be a Dutch tourist asked her if she knew of any nearby coffeehouses and all she could think of was a Starbucks:

I told [her] that I don't like to recommend chains. In fact, when I visited Amsterdam a few years ago, I loved the multitude of little cafes all over the city, all independently owned. She countered with, "But you don't know what you're getting in each of those cafes. The coffee could be bad. With Starbucks, you know what you're getting."

Rich Uncle Pennybags visits Fenway Starbucks today

adamg — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 23:09:04 +0000

The Phoenix reports a 40-something guy walked into the Starbucks on Brookline Avenue this afternoon, shouted "I'M RICH! I'M RICH!" and then flung fistfuls of dollar bills into the air before walking out.

Who says we're not world class? Boston area could get 24-hour Starbucks

adamg — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 11:20:39 +0000

Starbucks is seeking Cambridge's permission to keep its planned new Harvard Square outlet open around the clock, Stephanie reports.

Why not just open a new Starbucks in the restroom of one of the current Starbucks?

adamg — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:41:34 +0000

The Crimson reports Starbucks has filed paperwork to build a new outlet in the old Alpha-Omega jewelery store in Harvard Square, roughly 500 feet from two existing Starbucks.

Eerily prescient Onion story from 1998.

Starbucks to catch up with Oak Square Dunkin' Donuts

adamg — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:51:03 +0000

Tim O'Reilly tweets that as of July 1, Starbucks will eliminate fees for using wireless in its stores.

The chain coffee center of Massachusetts

adamg — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 19:25:38 +0000

View Larger Map

For some reason, the Globe today posted a map showing every single Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks in this great state of ours. Not surprisingly, greater Boston is just one giant blotch of red (the color they used to show Dunk's outlets). But that got me to thinking (often not a good thing). Where, exactly, is the galactic center of this vast coffee way?

Theoretically, should be easy enough to calculate: Just grab all the coordinates of all those pushpins, average them out, and voila.

Starbucks might want to consider reducing the caffeine in its coffee at Logan Airport

adamg — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:10:25 +0000

Makes some people a bit too jittery.

Patrick not a Dunkin' kinda guy

adamg — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:47:42 +0000

Megan Johnson provides the proof.

Teamsters vs. Starbucks supplier

adamg — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:27:01 +0000

Our roving reporter notes a Teamster picket outside the Starbucks at 755 Boylston St. this morning. He says the issue is not the taste of the coffee but "SB's supplier DPI has fired employees for trying to organize a union. DPI supplies SB with everything except the coffee beans."