When they have kiosks in gas stations and toll road rest stops, the "cool Seattle coffeehouse" image is shot.
Location and convenience? Fine. The image is already gone. Couple that with the rising prices and they're in a bad spot. The nation developed its green-logo habit when the drinks were $2-3, and a seriously gussied up one was $4. Now a normal menu drink unfussed with STARTS at $4, and has a "sheeple suburbanite" image more than a yuppie image. Once they installed drive-thrus...
Really, once it crossed the $4 mark, I started considering it Not Worth the Money. Not that I got it very often, but now the total per year I can count on my fingers.
Oooh! Maybe if they keep letting homeless guys mooch creamers and sugars and hot water, it'll retain some of that "urban" image! :P |
