How Howard Schultz and Starbucks Has Affected Our Society

Since 1987, Schultz took his one small Seattle, WA-based store to more than 1,000 worldwide. Shortly after, he continued to catch fire and set the bar so high that not even a German polevalter could come close to clearing it. Schultz took the fundamental concept of offering high-quality coffee beans roasted to perfection to, more recently, opening a new store somewhere every day, ballooning like a silicon implant. His product has become a subculture, vital to the American working public each morning and a must have for the teenage after school ritual. Of course, I'm sure you're familiar with the Starbucks' business model.

Steve and Len Riggio didn't have a bad idea either with the founding of Barnes and Noble, a brick and morter book giant that mops the floor with any Mom and Pop store that dare call themselves a "competitor." They've revolutionized the book industry, becoming the "go to" place for consumers to have a warm and inviting experience while they browse the aisles of enormous B&N inventory.

Naturally, the two combined forces. Barnes and Noble, coupled with Starbucks is a deadly combination of overpriced coffee and discount books. I was recently enlightened in another blog I read about how when people are young then tend to play down their intelligence, however, when they get older the cool thing to do is show others how bright they are by spouting off their love for geniuses such as Salinger, Chaucer, and bands like ColdPlay. Let me take it one step further by deeming this phenomenon as the "Starbucks Complex."

What is the Starbucks Complex, you may ask? Let me explain. When Barnes and Noble decided to bring in Starbucks as the in-house coffee shop, they saw an opportunity. There was no need for a test market, Starbucks had already established their brand loyal crowd, those that live and die by their coffee code, their cars littered with empty cups bearing, a deep knowledge of what I like to refer to as the "Latte Lingo." I always feel silly ordering a drink b/c I'm not fluent in the language. But overall, the Bucks', as Michael Scott from the Office likes to put it, preys on the self absorbed demographic. Mostly single people going in, limited knowledge of books but are more than happy to share their thoughts on The DaVinci Code, double parking in the lot out front, and the exact type that intentionally order complicated drinks b/c they love the challenge of bitching about their drink afterward.

Their fans speak poetically about the love of coffee, and the mystery and romance of sipping on their favorite cup of steaming java. "I can't survive without my daily Starbucks," you'll often hear if you stand within shouting distance of any street corner in a moderately sized city with a decent art scene, which more than likely has a Starbuck's in close proximity. People just love saying that. Makes them feel sophisticated. Is it the word "Starbucks" that people just love to say? By breaking down the word itself, "bucks" signifies monetary value which may distinguish one person from the next by saying, "I'm an exceptional individual because I paid three dollars more for my cup of coffee than you. I'm a sophisticated son of a bitch." This ideal, coupled with the vision of consumers reclined in plush leather chairs reading the jacket to a nineteen dollar James Patterson novel was enough for the Riggio brothers to cream all over their mocha lattes. Adults, particulary young adults, like to feel smart. Sophisticated. All warm and fuzzy inside, especially if their bellies are filled with a pool of foamed coffee. What better setting than to sit in a little café with their little café drink, flipping through a novel while some unknown Emo band sings about heartbreak over the speakers.

Which brings me to my point. Starbucks is not simply selling you coffee, just as Barnes and Noble isn't only promising low priced books. They are selling a lifestyle. A chance to be in on the sociological set that is spreading like a Paris Hilton STD.

It's an easy equation. Coffee, drank at any time during the day, makes one feel special. It's part of the mystery and romance of the "coffee experience." Reading books while you drink coffee, whoa buddy now we're talking...Let's slow it down a second, we're getting too smart for our own good. Men who haven't read books in years suddenly are interested in War and Peace, The Art of War, Of Mice and Men, and some fella' named Dumas, whom they miscorrectly pronounce "Dumb-ass." "Honey I think Imma gonna read this here book called, 'Catcher in the Rye.' I'm always in the mood for a good baseball book." Salinger would be so proud.

In between sips, they juggle books, weighing their purchase options. The small sample of the book that's printed on the jacket excites the consumer. He has dreams of sitting by a fire, or perhaps in a La-Z-Boy on a rainy day, opening the book up and discovering a whole new world inside. He welcomes the blisters from his rapid page turning abilities. But we all know, like 92% of Barnes and Noble consumers, once he leaves the beautiful mahogany doors of the local B& N he will never open the book again, but will instead proudly display it as a trophy in his home for the trip he once took to the bookstore. He'll show his wife, she'll smile with pity, pat him on the back, and think to herself, Atleast he didn't spend twenty dollars on Debbie Does Dallas. The fate of the crisp new book is an easy and obvious one to foresee. It will gather dust, provide a doorstop, or more than likely be wedged under the base of a table to stabilize the sturdiness.

Ever walked into someone's house and secretly sniffed around like you were raiding the medicine cabinet of your neighbor's home? Often when I visit homes of those I know, I immediately find myself searching like Grisham from CSI for the evidence I need to convict the guilty. I'll find the nearest bookcase, investigate the titles in front of me and interrogate those individuals responsible. When you ask them how the read was, they simply reply, "Oh I've never read it." Then, pray tell, what the hell is it doing in your bookcase? Would you buy a DVD and never unwrap the plastic?

And these people, these book hijackers,, are the same ones that put their children in front of the television for hours on end, a simple babysitter technique that will allow for peace and quiet while Mommy and Daddy gossip about the people at church and make frozen margaritas. They've devalued the importance of literature as well as any other artform to their children by encouraging Harry Potter movies over reading time. Johnny Depp is the new Robinson Crusoe. Movies are easy. They require no thinking.

I'm a lover of literature. I read all the time, whether it's James Patterson, Stephen King, or just about any Koontz work. There has only been one novel in the past few months that was so excruciating to read it made me feel like I was passing a kidney stone. I got approximately forty pages into it and said to myself, Enough is Enough. The book was, "Forever Odd" by Dean Koontz. I couldn't find myself connecting with the main character, felt like Koontz didn't have the necessary suspense to accelerate the main plot and it struggled to find rhythm. On the appearance of the novel, a young man cleverly named, "Odd" that was born with the ability to communicate with the dead shortly after their own fateful murders would give any reader shorter nails from biting through the intense moments, but instead I found my thumb in my mouth and dozing off. But I at least gave it a shot. I love Koontz. He's one of my favorite writers, a true master of the pen, but you never know whether you're going to run across a dud until you light the fuse and give it a go. But you've got to light the fuse...

Moral of the story. If you truly like coffee, then order the damned coffee. If you love to read, hop on over to Barnes and Noble and browse the aisles. Personally, I love Starbucks and I love Barnes and Nobles. But more importantly I'm being myself. I'm not buying into a lifestyle, not wearing the Starbucks cup as a fashion accessory.

Those type of people really grind my beans....