Starbucks has two news items worthy of a mention and there is also the new ‘personalized coffee bags’. We had mentioned late last year that Starbucks was raising their prices. We got a lot of emails stating that folks didn’t see the increase in their area. We do not know if the increase was delayed or if it was just being rolled out across the states a few stores at a time. We did see specialty drinks go up 30 cents in Ft. Worth and then a week later go up in Dallas. While we still hit a Starbucks when we have a espresso need and no small shop is available, this price does put the drinks just over our comfort level. We’ll report back on what we end up doing.
Another Starbucks news item was the announcement that the beta for smartphone payments of in store purchases was successful so they are rolling it out to more stores. Currently, there is just over 7,000 stores around the US that you can pay for your coffee and snacks using your smartphone. There is an app for the iPhone (free on the iTunes store here) and there is a BlackBerry app too. There are most likely Android and Microsoft solutions but we don’t have links to those yet. The iPhone version of the app has a way to ‘reload’ your card and a location finder too.
And to wrap up the coffee news is an offering we found from Boca Java: Personalizing Your Coffee is as Easy as 1-2-3! Choose from either 8oz. bags or 2oz. bags. Fun for Weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Grand Openings, Holiday Gifts, In-Room Coffee Service, Invitations & Announcements, Reunions, Conventions & Trade Shows and Corporate Gifts. You can see their offerings on their site. Personalize Boca Java Coffee with Your Own Image!