Starbucks closures no surprise

Starbucks closing stores in the US and Australia doesn't surprise me at all.

They lost touch with their consumers after the IPO when pleasing Wall Street became a more important strategic imperative than pleasing the paying punters.

Frankly, I have never enjoyed Starbucks coffee. In Australia we are positively spoiled for choice and for my taste, the plethora of small, family owned (often Italian) cafes have always provided better taste and better service at often less than half the price of Starbucks.

I admit I am a purist. And that extends beyond coffee to Marketing. I simply never believed the premium-priced highly-optioned formula could work in a mass consumer market. By definition, the premium pricing denotes some kind of exclusivity. And mass-marketing exclusivity and expecting consumers to pay over two times the going rate for it, eventually, is going to fail.

It's not just a question of taste. It's that uncommon quality, called common sense.