$tarbucks
The end of an Era: Part Two:

It's not big secret that I'm a huge Starbucks junky. I can't make it more than a couple of days without a hot foamy beverage; were it not for my current financial state, I'd be making a daily visit. But recently, I've sensed a great disturbance in the Starbuck force. The local shop that I've been hanging out in every Saturday and Sunday morning for the past six years, recently went through a remodel. One might think " Great! Spruce the place up, replace sad furniture make it a nicer place to hang out". Well not so much. This shop used to be a coffee connection before Starbucks took it over so it had a really cool layout. There was a nice marble and copper bar to sit at and view the whole store, a cool tin ceiling, and artwork from local artists always on display. But the best part about this particular Starbucks was the awesome, funky fresh people who worked there. I knew them all, we shared in each others lives, and they way they treated customers was the best bar none. I often said that when new employees were being trained, they should have to work in Andover to learn how it's supposed to be done. Walking in there was like waking into Cheers for Norm and Cliffy. All of this is pretty much gone now. As the Starbucks corporation has grown, they've become so much more cold corporate and homogenized and with the remodel, so has my beloved Andover store. They hired a new manager who is super corporate and who apparently no one want to work for. Most of the folk that I've know for years who worked there have either quit or requested a transfer. The cool bar has been replaced by a cheezy one that faces a blank wall and makes it really hard to talk to anyone. All of the fantastic artwork has been replaced by generic pictures you can find ant any new Starbucks.

So I ask WHY! Do they somehow think this is going to make the store more profitable? I just don't get it. 
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Posted by PunkAss at 8:32 AM