Starbucks And Franchising Make Sense

Investopedia:

Once upon a time in a previous career, I helped people buy franchises. One of the first questions I usually heard from clients was how could they buy a Tim Hortons franchise, especially those wanting to operate their business in Canada. Timmy’s is a household name here. That’ll never change. I myself prefer Starbucks.

Speaking of which, the Seattle institution is turning to franchising in a big way to grow Seattle’s Best Coffee, the smaller coffee brand it acquired for $72 million in 2003. I personally think it’s a great idea. Here’s why:

Starbucks Experience
If you’re fan of Starbucks, you know about its abysmal failure with brand extensions. It lost its mojo a few years back as it tried to be everything to everyone, and in the process it ruined the customer experience. That’s thankfully a thing of the past. A visit to one of its stores today feels much like it did before it started tinkering with a proven commodity. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it’s a heck of a lot better. With this in mind, now is the perfect time to deal with its other brand, which had become a business lacking direction. Was it a retail store or a wholesale operation? Nobody knew.

Company veteran Michelle Gass has taken over as president, and good things are sure to happen. Read on…