Warum das Starbucks-Gefühl nicht mehr funktioniert

This podcast will be presented by Sustainable Switzerland, the platform for sustainable Switzerland. NZZ Accent A typical scene in the world's most well-known coffee chain. In the background, chill music and people working on the wooden tables, especially on their laptops. In front of them are drinks with names like Pumpkin Spice Latte, Matcha Queen Frappuccino or even an iced brown sugar Oat Shaken Espresso. Of course, the conversation is about Starbucks. Personally, I haven't been to the sea in a long time. Janik, what do you think? Yes, and that's what I really like about you, Sarah. I've been to the research center for a really long time, no longer in a Starbucks. And I don't think we're the only ones here. There seems to be fewer and fewer people going to Starbucks. Recently, a branch closed at a well-known church square. I go there every day. It's really a very good situation. And overnight, the whole business was closed. The sign is gone, the logo is gone, the glass front is closed. And there is also an explanation why a Starbucks can simply disappear at a better time. But that's just one branch. In Zurich alone, I think there are about 16 others. So that doesn't have to mean anything, does it? No, that's right. There are more than 41,000 branches worldwide. So you have to say that a business more or less is not a drama. But it's not the only one. At the same time, a branch was also closed in Basel. And above all, some say that there is still more to come. I would even go so far and say that the actually revolutionary idea of Starbucks is dead. Starbucks closes branches. Why the biggest coffee house chain in the world can no longer connect to its success from the beginning, says business editor Janik Weder. I am Sarah Ziegler. Janik, you say the idea of Starbucks is dead, but there are still over 40,000 branches. I just find you a bit drastic in your statement. Yes, it's a bit dramatic, that's true. But I already have an explanation for it. So Starbucks, the company, has been struggling for a long time. It has been fighting several quartals in a row with sinking transactions. If you look at the shares, if you look at the stock value of the company, then it has fallen more than 10 percent since January. The old CEO, I think it was 16 months in the office, then he had to go. The new one had to be taken with a lot of money. What does a lot of money mean? A lot of money means that it is a loan package of more than 100 million dollars. So that's not so bad. And then there are also a few very good benefits, because, for example, the main seat of Starbucks is in Seattle. The CEO, Brian Nicole, lives in California and he has obviously claimed that he can work three times a week with a private jet. It's good that we use paper straws, when he flies with the private jet. So you definitely recognize a trend with the sinking transactions. Why don't people go as much to Starbucks as before and no longer do so much for the company? Yes, that's of course a very good question, which doesn't have an answer. I was in four open files and looked around there. And it's just like that. Starbucks is mainly where you come in, order a coffee to go and then go back quickly. People don't stay here anymore. You don't really stop there either. And that was just a long time ago the actual concept of the USP of Starbucks. I'm sorry, that's the Starbucks over figure, the former boss. He actually had this idea to bring Italian coffee culture to America, but just for the American everyday life. That means maybe there were those who didn't really know the young listeners anymore. There were these huge, comfortable seats. You got the coffee in gigantic porcelain cups. You could get a muffin with it. I think Starbucks was the business that brought us the cinnamon rolls to Europe. And it's mainly about a feeling that you had when you visited Starbucks. And I think that's a bit lost. Yes, I remember, I no longer belong to the younger listeners. When you moved to Europe, you only had a place with a lot of luck. Did you have to squeeze in between? Everyone wanted to go there. Yes, it was really the place where you had to be, if you were to cling to yourself. And there is a term called "third place", so third place. Starbucks became this third place, next to work and next to home. A place where you wanted to be, even if you didn't necessarily have to be there. And would you say now the people are looking for this third place somewhere else? I think there are still these third places, but it's still a lot to be missed nowadays. There is no longer the home and no longer the office. We work from home. We write emails in the fitness studio. It has all become a bit smooth. And that's why I chose to choose a cafe as third place. That somehow doesn't fit in today's world anymore. And I think what is also a very important point is that people came together at Starbucks. You met each other there, maybe you created friendships. And I think a large part of these processes that are found today are digital. Today you have digital communities. Everyone sits in their own glass a bit, if you want to. There is simply a generic place like Starbucks that is also there. It's a world concern. It doesn't fit in this world anymore. As you describe Starbucks from the past, you almost become a bit nostalgic. But you also say it doesn't fit in time anymore, so it's just not cool anymore. Probably you can say that. I didn't know that either, but the very first Starbucks from continental Europe is apparently in Zurich. I read a bit how it was when it came, and that was really an achievement. And I think you have to imagine that, that was 2001. And the Swiss people, the Swiss, they drink a glass or maybe a coffee cream. And now this American chain is coming with, you already mentioned all these names. The complicated ones, yes. Yes, I'm glad that you mentioned them and not me. But now somehow came Caramel Macchiato and no idea. And I think that already had such a ride. So when I was a teenager, when you were on a city trip somewhere in London or something, you wanted to go to Starbucks and you also wanted to have such a cup. They then also wrote their own names on the cup. And then you enjoyed yourself when you were wrong. So that was all part of this Starbucks world. That was the spirit of time back then. We will be right back. Together for a sustainable Switzerland. The platform Sustainable Switzerland shows you new insights from business and science and brings important actors together. Support from the partners BCG, BMW, Dimobilia, Google, Swisscom, UBS and more. Facts, backgrounds and information you can find at www.SustainableSwitzerland.ch And you also mentioned the drinks. They were a really huge milestone and are probably still there. My favorite is the Ice Brown Sugar Shaken Oat Espresso. Because he has so many names. I can just say that. That was what brought the people there. Why don't they do that anymore? Because they always let new things fall into place. I think that basically draws. Now maybe the question is what you want when you want a coffee. Then I think ordering a coffee in Starbucks is not that easy. But they have all these different drinks. You can somehow, I don't know, hit ramen, vegan hit ramen. There is syrup, there is sugar-free syrup. It is incredibly complicated to order a drink in Starbucks and you can adjust every drink to your own needs. And Starbucks itself has once agreed that there should be 170,000 options to order a drink with them. And I don't think it draws, but it just makes everything much more complicated. I don't think that's necessarily the biggest problem. I told you before, it was about a feeling in Starbucks. And that always has something to do with exclusivity. To be this cool. And if you look at what is available from Starbucks and where it is available, then it's just not special anymore. So you can buy Starbucks coffee cups, cold drinks. You can buy coffee beans from them in the supermarket. A few days ago I passed by a kiosk and there was a advertising board with Starbucks coffee in the front. And I was like, what is this? And then I realized they have Starbucks coffee machines in the kiosk. So I have the feeling that they have their own brand a little broken, maybe. So not only with the 170,000 options to be allowed to make a drink in front of a place, but also with the fact that there is Starbucks everywhere, did they simply exaggerate it? Maybe, yes. So there is a term in business science called commoditization. It's a little difficult to pronounce, but it actually means that if something is so common, if a brand loses its speciality and is also used to exchange goods, then it loses a certain content. And I think Starbucks wanted to be everything for everything and is now standing in the end for actually nothing more. But now you have bought a new CEO for 100 million and three private jet flights a week. Did he have a plan on how to create this Starbucks feeling again? Or is there a new way? Yes, you say new way. Nicole's new way is called back to Starbucks. That is the passion he brought out. It's actually much more about the old values that I described before, that you let it live up again. Nicole herself says that a visit to Starbucks is no longer so much fun today. It's too fast, too unpersonally. Coffee quality is also not right. Of course, it starts in the USA, but I think it will have worldwide effects. I would like to get back to this third place, to this meeting point where you want to spend time, where the baristas should become more friendly. He said that again, make eye contact. There is this story that I cannot check, of course, but apparently he will have ordered 200,000 file letters so that the baristas can write the names of the customers by hand again on the walls. They do not do that at the moment. At the moment it is being printed. Ah, okay, that is unpersonally. Yes, exactly, behind the whole thing is the idea that Starbucks should become a little more personal again. Back to Starbucks has started in the USA. Have you noticed something about your research in the Zurich files? That it should also become a little more cozy and personal again? It goes like this. I was in the oldest file, I was in the most modern file. So I especially noticed that it is quite unique. At the Zurich Bellevue, you might know that at the same time at the lake, there is the most modern file of Starbucks. And that actually looks like in every hipster café. So ceramic tiles. Yes, I do not know if that is back to Starbucks. And if you really pull through this strategy now, like the CEO of Winenickel wants to, what would you say, does Starbucks have a chance again to become such a phenomenon as it used to be? Yes, that's a very good question. So for the first time you have to say that Starbucks is not dead. So, as I said, 41,000 files, that's not possible. That's a lot. Exactly. But I think you are already asking the right question. Because I was in these shops and the few guests who sit there, who sit on the laptop or on the cell phone, they are really in themselves, they are in their own world. No one understands themselves there. And that's why I think I just want to live this old idea to live again. That's a beautiful thought, that's a romantic thought. I'm not quite sure if it really wants to work. [music] Some ideas may only work once. Thank you, Janik. Thank you, Sarah. [music] I'll get a tea with my voice for now and I recommend you the test subscription for the NZZ. There you will find the economic analysis of Janik and the whole resort. That was NZZ Accent. I'm Sarah Ziegler, take care.