Starbucks Redux

Starbucks, which announced it was closing 600 stores last year because of the harsh economic times, has decided to try a new idea: rebranding individual stores with Eco-friendly, local-neighborhood-inspired motifs. The first store of its kind will be opening in Capitol Hill this Friday at 6am. What makes this Starbucks different, other than the conspicuously absent Starbucks name and logo?

• No more mass-brewed coffee. Instead it will be replaced by French presses, pour-over racks and the small-batch brewing Clover machine
• Exclusive varieties of coffee and tea and no frappucinos
  
• Free wi-fi without having to buy a Starbucks gift card.
• Costs that are 5-10 cents more expensive
• Local art and entertainment
• Expanded food selections from local businesses, e.g. Fremont-based Essential Baking and Pike's-Market-staple Beechers cheese (with the leftovers donated to St. Mary's Food Bank)
  
• Beer and wine in the afternoon and evening

I've been a Starbucks junkie ever since working there through college, so I may be a bit biased, but I think this is a great idea. I know many will complain that this is another case of the big corporate giant "stealing" ideas from small, locally-owned businesses, but for me as Washingtonian, Starbucks is a local business.

Not to mention, Starbucks is one of the few large corporation who takes care of their employees by paying them well over minimum wage and offering health care benefits and paid time off to even part-time workers to name a few. It was one of the core beliefs of Howard Schultz, the founder of modern-day Starbucks.

If this is successful, keep an eye out for the Starbucks-in-disguise in a neighborhood near you.