Starbucks Happy Hour is Real
A Starbucks store very far from Seattle has taken Otis Kimzey’s advice. In December of last year Otis wrote about how Starbucks should have happy hour from 5:00pm to 6:30pm, to get people in during the slower times of the day. He was referencing this AdAge article (registration/subscription required, those rat bastards) and adding his own $.02.
On friday, on an OtisKimzey.com reader tip, Kyle told us that the Starbucks he worked at in Houston was offering a Happy Hour. That’s right ladies and gents, half off frappuccinos between 5 and 7 even on weekends. Kari, myself and Philip and Amber piled in the car to go check it out, and sure enough, right when we arrive we see the sign on the door (pictured above). Definately not corporate. Inside we see the following sign as well:
Of course, we were not alone. Youths everywhere. Frapps flying across the counter. Starbucks happy hour FTW.
We asked for Kyle, but the other employees jumped right on me, “He’s not here.” Manager? Shift supervisor? Why so defensive?
The employees working there said it was this store only, and not a push from corporate. They just printed the signs and started selling half off frapps during happy hour that Monday. They did seem nervous about all my questions, but they should be. The Mother Ship will not be pleased. They run a tight ship and don’t generally give stores flexibility over pricing.
This is such a great idea. Frapps have to have the highest margin of any thing ever sold. A grande costs $3.85, and there’s just no way it takes a) 20 minutes for the barista to make, b) lots of R&D cost recoup, or c) little flecks of gold to get that perfect sugar-infused flavor. So take a hit on margin for 2 hours a day. Get people into your store before or during dinner. I’ sure you’re still making money, and it encourages more people to buy Frapps and get hooked on them.
Corporate, if you’re listening (probably not), please give us happy hours in every store (but make better signs)!
TD said,
June 9, 2008 @ 7:23 pmYou state "Kari, myself and Philip and Amber piled in the car to go check it out," but I thought you lived in the Northwest. What gives? Are you "the good friend of [Otis]" who lives in Houston? When did that happen, or did I miss something along the way?
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OtisKimzey.com | Starbucks listened to me!* said,
June 8, 2008 @ 6:42 pm[...] go check out what “kyle” had reported on this here site. For the full report checkout Lach’s post here. As Lach did some investigative reporting this is brief report on if this was a test market, or [...]