Seattle Starbucks to experiment with reasonable prices

Global coffee behemoth Starbucks has decided to experiment with $1 coffee and free refills in its Seattle stores. This is in response to slumping stock prices, more intense competition, and fears about decreases in consumer spending.

The $1 coffee is the little-known “short” 8 oz. size, and its price includes free refills. Sadly, this is only offered in Seattle right now, but it may expand to the rest of the country if the experiment is successful.

Starbucks has over 15,000 stores in 44 countries, and chances are, if you’re blessed with sight and are ambulatory, you’ve seen at least a hundred of them. Sometimes, in places you’d never expect.

Personally, I don’t really have strong feelings about Starbucks one way or the other, but its nice to know that almost wherever I go, I can always pick up a decent warm drink and have a place to flop. Of course, I recognize and respect that some people basically live there, while other people think the store is the devil. To each his own.

For more on why you’ve never heard of the “short” drink size, check out an article from the Undercover Economist here.

Think Starbucks is the devil because it drives mom-and-pop coffee shops out of business? Think again.