  Sg9018 Member Username: Sg9018 Post Number: 263 Registered: 10-2006 |
Coffee shops help stimulate Detroit economy http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20090207/B IZ/902070342/1001 The artice in the Detroit News is about the growing choices of independent and franchise operations in downtown. According to the story, Detroiters have more choices than ever before. | ||
Hpgrmln Member Username: Hpgrmln Post Number: 657 Registered: 06-2007 |
Yet Starbucks is continuing to close locations. Are any more in the area scheduled to close? The Millender location is gone, and the Marriott/Rencen store is no longer open on weekends. | ||
Texorama Member Username: Texorama Post Number: 344 Registered: 12-2006 |
Noticed that the new coffee house in the Book-Cadillac is open as well. | ||
Sg9018 Member Username: Sg9018 Post Number: 265 Registered: 10-2006 |
Hpgrmln, Starbucks has problems nationwide. According to the story 18 stores are set to close. I think it is very good that Detroit is getting more independent shops. The thead should continue. | ||
Vivadetroit Member Username: Vivadetroit Post Number: 161 Registered: 04-2008 |
yay! Bring on the Tim Horton's! love their coffee and Timbits!! Heck, I can get a medium coffee and 10 timbits for less than a Venti coffee at Starbucks. You do the math on why they're not doing well. Didn't Starbucks close 600 stores in the past few months? | ||
Parkguy Member Username: Parkguy Post Number: 360 Registered: 04-2007 |
Starbucks just laid-off something like 1000 people at their headquarters, and they closed over 300 shops. | ||
Stosh Member Username: Stosh Post Number: 23 Registered: 01-2009 |
I was at Starbucks the other day. They changed their formulation on their coffee lately? It seemed kind of weak. | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 2044 Registered: 10-2003 |
Tim Horton's coffee is watered down and weak. Yeah, it's less expensive. You get what you pay for. | ||
Big_baby_jebus Member Username: Big_baby_jebus Post Number: 56 Registered: 09-2008 |
Mercury Bar is closing. Guess they didn't get this memo. | ||
Birdie Member Username: Birdie Post Number: 84 Registered: 04-2007 |
mercury bar is temporarily closed and probably re-opening very soon! someone on this very forum said they plan to re-open on friday! | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1780 Registered: 12-2006 |
Tim Horton's is quite good, the one I go to. But I like diner coffee, which is what that is. Mercury Bar is likely to be closed for quite a while; the one partner quoted in the paper said they hope to reopen but didn't give a timeline. Since the problem as he put it is they lost $280 a day, I doubt they'll solve that by this Friday. Starbucks relies on people being able and willing to spend fairly big dollars for coffee drinks, and that's an iffy business in a weak economy. Their stock has been slowly eroding in value the last couple years, starting well before the current economic crisis. If you want to do upscale coffee drinks right now, you have to have something going for you. Charge fifty cents less than the guy down the street, or have good pastries, or something. We are in a supercompetitive enviroment right now. I'm too simple for upscale coffee shops, myself, though I like that they exist. My ideal morning is a copy of the Free Press, a cup of hot coffee with some bacon and eggs, and other people in the place willing to argue politics. From that, as you can guess, I can have a lot of very good mornings in Detroit  | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 2054 Registered: 10-2003 |
It costs less than $2 for a cup of plain coffee at Starbucks, Caribou, or Biggby (or Bean and Leaf, my favorite). That's not expensive, and it's real, robust, full-flavored coffee. | ||
Benfield Member Username: Benfield Post Number: 95 Registered: 06-2008 |
Now is the wrong time and Detroit is the wrong place in this economy to sell upscale "luxury" coffee. On top of the economic and social changes rocking every coffee seller, Detroit has the additional challenge of a rather small demographic of upscale coffee drinkers. Combine with Mercury's rather out of the way location and I think their previous strategy was maybe doable in 2006, but totally wrong for 2009. quote: http://online.wsj.com/article/ SB123413848760761577.html | ||
Otter Member Username: Otter Post Number: 556 Registered: 12-2007 |
I like good coffee (define that how you like, but for me it is definitely not diner coffee) and, the once or (maybe) twice a week I want one at work, I walk to the nearby Starbucks and pay $0.56 for a refill. One plain small coffee (that's what I want) last July, refills ever since. If I want a cafe con leche or something I make it at home in the morning. Starbucks doesn't have to be expensive if your tastes are simple. Just sayin' I only had one opportunity to eat at MCB, in December. Had a coffee too, very nice. I hope they make it. I can certainly live with simpler. I'll def. go try the new French place on Trumbull on my next visit. O. | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 2055 Registered: 10-2003 |
Interesting. I tried the McDonalds premium coffee when it first came out, and I had a pretty good cup. Nice and robust. About three weeks later, I tried it again, and it tasted weak, like something from Denny's or Tim Horton's. In fact, I'm sure it was brewed with dirty dishwater. I haven't ventured into McD's since. | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1781 Registered: 12-2006 |
It's good for your health to stay away from Mickey D's, Fury13, in general. I've never found Tim Horton's coffee to be "weak". It's not a particularly strong coffee, just typical. Once in a while I'm in the mood for something really strong, a Kona or dark-roasted Guatemalan. Usually what the grocery store bulk coffee sections calls "breakfast blend" is right up my alley. Now, I've tried Syrian coffee, which is another planet entirely. I found out after the fact you're not supposed to gulp it down. My ears were ringing for four hours. That's coffee. | ||
Hans57 Member Username: Hans57 Post Number: 367 Registered: 05-2006 |
Oh yeah, Biggby just opened up on woodward. One falls down, another one steps up to the plate? Granted, it's by no means a similar place. | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1783 Registered: 12-2006 |
Is Biggby any good? There are several of them in the area, but I haven't stopped by yet. I was astonished with the name they originally were using. | ||
Birdie Member Username: Birdie Post Number: 86 Registered: 04-2007 |
mercury bar is re-opening on friday! http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20090210/B IZ/902100446/1361 | ||
Eastsideal Member Username: Eastsideal Post Number: 299 Registered: 10-2007 |
quote: True, but they're not making any money off of you. The big money in the cafe business, and the thing that allowed Starbuck's to grow so fast, is the specialty drinks. Take a shot of mediocre espresso, add a bunch of foamed milk, sell it for $4.00. A really tough sell to start with in a city like Detroit. And now that people everywhere aren't buying so many of those, and more of them are buying a plain cup of coffee with endless cheap refills, it's getting tougher and tougher to pay the rent. | ||
Otter Member Username: Otter Post Number: 558 Registered: 12-2007 |
They may not be making money off of me, but they were the ones that suggested it the first time (i just reused my cup because it was wasteful to throw it out.) When I go to a place like MCB I don't expect refills all the time. I'm more willing to pay $ for a 'specialty' coffee at a local specialty place that does it well, like MCB. Or even Intelligentsia, though they're not the same kind of place. But then again, I can get what I want for pennies with the espresso machine at home (thanks, mom) - not as good as buying one, but close enough - or get a $1.65 cortadito at the Cuban cafe downtown or a $1.25 cafe con leche at the Cuban lunch counter that I pass on the way to work. $4 lattes require the right kind of market and economic climate, and this isn't really it. Perhaps the margins in food are big enough that they can make their money there? I don't know the business. O. But you're right, it is a tough sell in a place like Detroit. | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 2056 Registered: 10-2003 |
I never buy the specialty drinks. I just want strong, rich-tasting coffee. That's why it has to be Caribou, Starbucks, et al. Like I said, diner coffee usually tastes like dirty dishwater. Evidently a lot of people feel as I do. I've observed that many folks just buy a cup of coffee and eschew the fancy lattes and frappucinos. | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 2057 Registered: 10-2003 |
By the way, Biggby's coffee seems to vary from location to location. It's sometimes a little thin-tasting, too. |
