Customers walking into any of the nearly 7,100 Starbucks across the U.S. today will be greeted with a sign that reads: "Your drink should be perfect, every time. If not, let us know and we'll make it right."
That message follows a training session that took place yesterday shutting down every Starbucks for a three-and-a-half hour period. The company, back under the leadership of CEO and founder Howard Schultz, is seeking to recapture the magic that created Starbucks devotees across the nation and major portions of the globe.
The training session, described in an Associated Press report as "part back-to-basics tutorial, part pep rally," was intended to help Starbucks' baristas pour the perfect cup noted in the company's signs. Roughly 135,000 employees of the coffee chain were expected to participate.
Ann-Marie Kurtz, Starbucks' manager of global coffee and tea education, told ABC News that closing the stores would give "baristas the chance to really slow down and have the chance to really celebrate the art of espresso."
Ken Nye, owner of Ninth Street Espresso in the East Village of New York, didn't think there was much that would come out of Starbucks training.
"To say that 3.5 hours is a barista training is hard to swallow. Company training is another story," he told ABC. "It probably makes sense when you have hundreds of thousands of employees. Probably makes sense that everybody learns about thirty rules of operation, but it's also probably got nothing to do with the art of making coffee."
Mr. Nye said training for barista at Ninth Street Espresso took up to three months under the tutelage of a dedicated trainer.
"Our baristas have a knowledge of coffee - the entire process from seed to cup. We want our staff to understand coffee and have a refined and developed palate, and teach that to our customers."
While closing for a short period of time isn't expected to have much of an impact on a company the size of Starbucks, competitors saw it as an opportunity to try and romance consumers away from their rival.
In Seattle, Caffe Vita Coffee Roasting Co. shops gave away free shots to consumers while Starbucks was closed.
Across the country, Dunkin' Donuts was running a 99 cents special on small cappuccinos, lattes and other coffee drinks for most of yesterday.
Robert Toomey, an analyst with E.K. Riley Investments, told The Associated Press that the Starbucks training session was something that needed to be done.
"They know they've fallen short," he said. "The quality of the product has deteriorated a bit over the last few years, and they know they've got to improve it."
Discussion Questions: What do you think came out of the training session yesterday for Starbucks and its competitors? Will consumers have a more positive view of Starbucks as a result of the highly publicized event?