GorillaOffTopic, Everything But Gorilla Trades

In a thriving economy, it is tough to resist the luxury of an expensive cup of java, but in a struggling economy, it’s one of the first things people give up. After all, it’s a discretionary item.  In a recent poll, a large percentage of adults reported that they will no longer be drinking Starbucks. Well that is certainly no surprise; after all, a latte is considered an expensive treat to most. Most of you know what a huge fan the Gorilla has been of Starbucks, but quite frankly, the news of the company’s plans to close over 600 stores, after a rapid-growth expansion, is not really all that surprising.  Walking down the streets of New York city one night, the Gorilla and his wife passed by a Starbucks, which was overflowing with patrons. Within a few seconds it was decided that a cup of coffee sounded just great, but instead of turning around and going back, there was another Starbucks within a few feet of the last one, on the very next corner! This went on and on for miles, from corner block to corner block.  Wasn’t it Starbuck’s original intention to have a location on every street corner in America? It was only two years ago that company executives bragged about how the company could have two outlets in one building. In the mall near the Gorilla’s home, there are actually three stores. The company has been so visible that it was never quite out of “reach,” so to speak. It seemed a little too good to be true that Starbucks stores were virtually everywhere- and a little too accessible. It seemed a little too indulgent, and we all got a little too spoiled- especially Starbucks itself.  So it’s time for the coffee giant to “cool it” for now, and it comes at the worst possible time, adding thousands of job losses to an already flailing economy. Many people have already made the switch from the expensive Starbucks concoctions to the less expensive Dunkin’ Donuts or McDonald’s coffees to save some money during these tough economic times. So, will those people come back to Starbucks once the economy gets better?  “When things were better, I think people preferred Starbucks. The environment is so much better than Dunkin’ Donuts,” Howard Davidowitz chairman of the national retail consulting firm Davidowitz & Associates Inc. said. “But right now,” he added, “what I see in the retail numbers consistently is that pricing has become a more important priority.”
Okay, okay, so yes, the Gorilla is of course biased, but he feels that Starbucks is, by far, the superior product as compared to the others. Besides, the Gorilla had a gourmet Cappuccino at McDonald’s the other day and guess what he found? At $3 and change, the coffee was almost as expensive as a Starbucks coffee and not nearly as good! Wasn’t McDonalds supposed to be the lower price alternative? Hmmm.