Starbucks offers first peek at "its not a Starbucks" cafe

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009527518_starbucks24.html
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"The culture is pushing back from the corporate establishment and moving toward more organic, small business."-said customer Scott Christensen, of Puyallup

I apologize now for the use of trendy cliché’s, but really? REALLY? Seriously? How un-small can a company like Starbucks be? In my opinion, Mr. Christensen was unable to recognize a retail concept being test marketed for a potential mega-chain. The article asserts that the 15th Avenue Cafe is a departure from big business as usual for Starbucks, the largest coffee retail chain in the world. The new restaurant has an independent look and feel with its interior comprised of recycled elements, a scaled down beverage offering and a bistro fare. I can't tell if Starbucks just tried too hard on this one or didn't try hard enough. It attempts to leverage street credit (literally) by naming the store after it's geographical location. The name is about innocuous as "Main Street". This is to invoke the perception that it's just a part of the local surroundings.

It's a local stop for local folks, "Inside, an ABC news crew prepared a national broadcast about the new Starbucks store that's so heavily focused on its locale that it shed its corporate name." I don't think that is the real reason Starbucks shed it's corporate name or the fact that they invited the major networks to cover the opening. People who live in Seattle know that they have tried this before. It was previously called "Starbucks Cafe". A little less deceptive I think. This is similar to McDonalds when they opened Chipotle. Everyone knew it was the giant mega corporation hiding its name behind one of its "orphan" brands. Coincidentally, McDonalds now offers McCafe espresso drinks. Starbucks is going head to head with them for the market share. A company that takes on McDonalds can hardly be described as small, no matter how many adaptations it hides behind. At least in that business scenario I'm surprised that people actually still fall for this kind of this mega-corporation-trying-not-to-look-like-a mega-corporation brand positioning.

I’m not surprised that a Seattle based company would cook up something like this. The people in Seattle claim to hate big business. I have never seen so many protests erupt when a major chain tries to grab some real estate in that town. You can’t put up a Wal*Mart with out bulldozing a few dozen people. These are the same people that work for some of the biggest companies in the world (Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon, Weyerhaeuser, Nintendo, Costco…) but no one is chaining themselves to their front doors. Does this frappacino head really think that if this venture takes off for Starbucks they will endeavor to keep one out of every strip mall across America? You know Starbucks Coffee was once a quirky unknown venture that opened in Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, in 1971. The original store was an “organic” small business. Now they have a corporate headquarters that looks like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and they peddle energy drinks at the local 7-11 (another mom and pop operation gone multinational). Trust me. Starbucks is not downsizing. That’s like saying Amway morphing into Quixtar was an attempt to shrink their business. Quite frankly, I’m surprised they haven’t put a Starbucks inside the Starbucks Café that’s not a Starbucks.