Starbucks Closing List is Out

For those of you who love Starbucks, its closing list is out.

Two here in the hood of Los Angeles are scheduled to close with one I know having been opened just less than a year. About 60 stores are closing in California alone.

Many of you are going to have to find another way to get your caffeine buzz on.

Check out Starbucks recently release closing list.

Trouble Brewing As Starbucks Looses Court Case

I once wanted to open a coffee house. Years ago. My wife will tell you I came up with the idea of chain store coffee houses way back before there ever was a Starbucks. The essential thing missing was capital. After taking some classes I also found out that that romantic idea of a chain of quaint bohemian coffee houses was unreal because according to California state law. basically I was opening up a restaurant and had to follow all the stringent guide lines that pertain to a restaurant. Yesterday in court Starbucks Corporation found out the same thing; as for the second time they had a class action law suit filed against them, and in this one they got slapped with a judgement of 105 million dollars. This mega lawsuit is all over one thing... those silly tip jars at the cash register.


The tip jars that Burger King and McDonald's don't have even though their employees do more work. It seems a court in California awarded baristas at Starbucks cafes in California $105 million on Thursday, ruling that the company had wrongly allowed supervisors to share in tips.

The judgment by Judge Patricia Y. Cowett of California Superior Court in San Diego could have broader ramifications for the restaurant industry in California and around the country.

Starbucks, the Seattle-based coffee chain, said it would appeal the decision, which it described as “fundamentally unfair and beyond all common sense and reason.”

The case centers on the division of labor between managers and rank-and-file workers. Under California labor law and rules, tips can be pooled and shared among workers but restaurant owners or their “agents,” which are typically construed to mean managers and supervisors, cannot share in the money.

VIKAS BAJAJ at The New York Times has the rest of this story

With Business Hurting, Now Starbucks Is Willing To Give Free WiFi To Coffee Drinking Internet Addicts

Starbucks, which for years rejected giving away free Internet service at its stores, has reversed course and said Monday that it will begin offering limited, free Wi-Fi at more than 7,000 company-owned U.S. stores. You know Britney Spears is excited about this news, poor thing.

The switch to AT&T Inc. from T-Mobile will allow customers to receive up to two hours of free Internet service starting this spring. However, to access the Wi-Fi, customers must have a cash balance on an active Starbucks card, which is used to buy drinks, CDs or other items. Cards start at $5.

Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. said it has not worked out all the details as to how much of a cash balance must be on a card, and it has not set firm dates when the free Wi-Fi will begin. But its hometown likely will be among the first large cities to get the service as it is rolled out this year, said Chris Bruzzo, the company's chief technology officer. Full Starbucks Story