❗Let's close the gap: We still need your help to raise $40,000 by April 1. Donate now

Starbucks is expanding serving alcohol and small plates

Dan Gorenstein Mar 24, 2014
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Starbucks is expanding serving alcohol and small plates

Dan Gorenstein Mar 24, 2014
HTML EMBED:
COPY

The coffee giant Starbucks has announced plans to expand the number of shops that sell the alcoholic beverages from several dozen today to 40 by the end of the year. With this come practical costs like liquor licenses, training staff, washing dishes – but former Starbucks executive John Moore, who runs the marketing consultancy Brains on Fire, says here’s the big concern: “There is an old saying that is so true. There is no ‘and’ in brand.’ If you try to stand for everything, you ultimately stand for nothing,” he says.

This beer and wine move comes after Starbucks spent hundreds of millions to expand its reach into juice, baked goods and tea. The risk, says Moore, a diluted brand  a word no coffee company ever wants to touch.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.