Page 140 - The Starbucks Experience

Embrace Resistance

and frequently comment on what a nice touch it is to have
that personal interaction with baristas, which is so unique to
us at Starbucks.”
To gain acceptance, Starbucks leadership provided foods to
meet local tastes, adding typical French pastries including crois-
sants, pains au chocolat, and pains aux raisins. All these food
items are organic and produced by local bakers. Odilia adds,
“We know that an ever increasing number of local French cus-
tomers are embracing the Starbucks Experience in Paris. The
excellent coffee, friendly service, and the unique third place
environment attract more and more new customers every time
we open a store. We have been truly overwhelmed at how local
communities around our stores are quickly making the Star-
bucks Experience part of their daily ritual.” Frank Boosman,
strategic marketing consultant and blogger, puts it well, “While
I enjoy traditional Parisian café culture, I know that I can get 125
skim milk with my Starbucks coffee. I know they’ll be able to
make almost any drink as a decaf. I know no one will be smok-
ing in the café. So yes, I’d visit Starbucks in Paris.”
It is obvious that business leaders must be culturally sen-
sitive when conducting business abroad, but that same sen-
sitivity is needed domestically as well. Because of the amazing
diversity found within this country, some communities may
have unique requirements that are quite different from those
of neighborhoods only a few miles away.
Such is the case for district manager Amy Tingler, who
shares her experience working in a location that has very spe-
cific needs. “We have two stores located in the Squirrel Hill
area of Pittsburgh, which is a highly populated Jewish com-
munity,” she explains. “As a company, we have developed
products like our whole bean coffee and certain other coffees
that are kosher. At the store level in Squirrel Hill, however,