Here is a shot from the inside of the Starbucks I usually frequent the most, from my vantage point seated way, way, back at the end of a section. This store is very popular, and the people working here are pretty friendly (well, almost all of them are). They do seem to have a problem with their storage capacity because they tend to pile up a lot of boxed-up inventory around the customers' seating area, sometimes taking up a couple of tables. But I can live with that as long as I can find somewhere to sit. I've noticed that at the busiest time, on weekend mornings, I never have trouble finding a free table. But then again, most of the customers are doing take-out then, on their way to work or school. My most difficult time at this Starbucks is on Saturday afternoons, when as a general rule I can't find an empty place to sit. But I'm happy that they're doing so well, since this SHOULD mean that the mother company won't close them down as a corporate loss (as they did recently with some of their other stores).
I began coming here right after it opened in the summer of 2000. I don't think that there is any other single coffee establishment that I have patronized regularly for so long a time.
I have been to other non-Starbucks coffee shops across town over the years, but it has generally been Starbucks who seems to understand the importance of a smiling, friendly, and welcoming attitude on the part of its workers to the customer. Frankly, that should be a no-brainer, but it never fails to astonish me how poorly employees treat customers in the locally-owned mom-and-pop businesses I go to. So why go there? Screw them, just because they're local that doesn't mean that they are entitled to my money. When I experience coldness and frowning faces, I conclude that maybe they really don't think my money is important, anyway. So I'll just spend it instead where employees show some good-old fashioned professionalism. If the locals want to compete with this mega-corporation for my dollars, then they can grow some brains and learn to be friendly to me when I walk in the door to do business with them!
«If the locals want to compete with this mega-corporation for my dollars, then they can grow some brains and learn to be friendly to me when I walk in the door to do business with them!»
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree, and I'm surprised to read what you've written. I've generally found the folks at the M&P businesses to be very friendly and welcoming. Among my favourite cafes up in my area are the Black Cat Cafe in Irvington (NY), Coffee Labs in Tarrytown, and the Peekskill Coffee House in Peekskill... and they're all warm and welcoming (and all have free Internet access).
I'm sorry to hear that it's not like that in Gainesville.
I have found that the owners of small businesses are usually warm to customers, but they often fail to either train their hired employees well or hire the wrong personalities in the first place. I get the vibe in some of the places I go to that they're just too cool for me, and I get very stiff, formal treatment. How offensive.
ReplyDeleteI won't name the "bad" places, but in the past there have been a few good ones sprinkled in, to be fair about it. Only problem is that the "good" ones are gone...
There is a glimmer of hope, though. I did recently discover a place near my workplace called Bagel Bakery whose employees seem to "get it".