"The people who line up for Starbucks, writes CEO Howard Shultz, aren't just there for the coffee. 'It's the romance of the coffee experience, the feeling of warmth and community people get in Starbucks." (Klein 20) I find it incredible that a company like Starbucks can actually bring about feelings of the warmth and community that Klein speaks of. Now that I think of it, I can completely understand what she is saying. I frequent Starbucks now and then, and what I sometimes notice are people just sitting in the couch chairs talking away without anything to eat or drink in their hands. They are simply there for the social aspect of it. A good friend of mine back home often goes to Starbucks just to play games on his computer, and does not buy anything to eat or drink at all. The fact that Starbucks offers a wireless internet connection has a lot to do with the fact that people go there simply to socialize, which is unlike any store or company that I know of off the top of my head. What is going to be interesting is how this will affect the company down the road. For example, there is no rule or law that states that a customer that walks through the Starbucks door HAS to purchase something, so what I think might happen (if it does not already) is that people will abuse the privilege of the internet connection, and choose to sit there and socialize or surf the net instead of buying Starbucks products. By doing so, its not as if Starbucks is actually "losing business," but when the employees see people coming in and leaving without buying anything, a sense of frustration will be created. But then again, because of the way the store is set up, it definitely has a community feel to it, with a lot of couches and comfortable places to lounge, as the following picture for my blog post will show...


http://www.fredonia.edu/prweb/ucommons/images/starbucks.conversation.jpg

Who wouldn't want to lounge here for a while?