Starbucks to sell wine and beer, age limit rules apply, jacking up of prices to follow

Starbucks has started selling wine and beer in their flagship store in Seattle, USA. It's an experiment to try to draw a bigger evening crowd. The 40-year-old coffee franchise is one of the largest coffee chains in the world. It is also the first to introduce "premium prices" for a regular cup of coffee and the idea that you can drink large amounts of coffee at any time of the day.

Currently, the big green giant reported that most of its customers patronise before 2pm and that it is also losing out to its competitor despite numerous efforts to stay at the top. Therefore, in an effort to draw a bigger evening crowd, Starbucks is going to start selling beer and wine. It is a move that will help people to "relax" after work. Starbucks fans need not worry as the stores will be re-designed to look more like a modern bar, with dim lightings than the current traditional coffee store look. At the moment, only the flagship store in Seattle is trying out this new approach - selling coffee in the morning and alcohol from evening onwards - and if successful, Starbucks will expand this venture to the rest of the world.

As always, there are some drawbacks to such a move. Starbucks has always been associated with coffee and a move into the alcohol business may not be beneficial to its name. Also, there will be age limit rules if they decide to sell here in Singapore. It is not clear how they would enforce the age-limit if they wish to attract every age group. Underaged teens can no longer tell their parents that they'll be hanging out at Starbucks per se. Students should not be allowed to study there, or at least once it reaches "happy hour", though I've yet to decide if this is a pro or con. It is possible, too, that tipsy customers may get rowdy and create a scene in a Starbucks outlet, further ruining the image of Starbucks as a place to chill out.

However, from a consumer's point of view, this means that wine and beer are much more easily accessible, though coming from Starbucks, it is likely the prices will be sky high. In the end, it is a very high risk maneuver for Starbucks but it is worth a try.

PS: I can't embed this but you can view a quick
YouTube video: CBS -Starbucks Baristas to Bartenders.


Sources:
1) The Week - Starbucks' Gamble on Beer and Wine, Will it Work? (Oct 20, 2010)
2) The Week - Starbucks: Changing Baristas to Bartenders (Video) (Oct 19, 2010)
3) The NewsFeed - From One Addiction To The Next (Oct 19, 2010)
4) Yahoo! News - Starbucks Adds Beer and Wine To One Store's Menu (Oct 19, 2010)