(International Library of Sociology) Celia Lury - Brands_ The Logos of the Global Economy-Routledge (2004)

already ‘on the way’ for consumers:
‘We want to be in highly visible locations that provide easy access for
our customers…. You want a store located in the path of people’s daily
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shopping experience, their route to work, or their way home from a
movie. You want to be America’s front porch, the place where people
gather to meet neighbors and friends.’
(Rubinfeld, quoted in Koehn, 2001:244)
Other relevant factors in deciding where to locate a Starbucks store
included information about population density, residents’ median age
and education level, estimated household income, information about the
state of local competition and, contentiously, the application of a
principle of ‘store clustering’. This is the clustering of new Starbucks
stores close to each other (see N.Klein, 2000 for a critical discussion of
this practice). This apparently selfdefeating strategy is designed to
attract consumer attention, lock up market share and deter other coffee
retailers, and is conducted despite the recognised consequence of
so-called cannibalisation of business in already established Starbucks
stores in the locality. Once their locations are chosen, stores are also
designed by an in-house team of real-estate managers, architects,
designers and construction managers, according to fixed parameters for
store design, typically incorporating natural materials such as hardwood
cabinetry and slate flooring. The choice of both location and design of
the outlet is governed by the brand imperative for its coffee stores to
become a recognised ‘third place’—a location apart from both home
and work.
All these (and other) techniques, procedures and practices are what
comprise the standardisation of the brand. So important is this
standardisation to the company’s self-perception of the values that it
promotes that Starbucks seeks to control closely all its operations:
Across all channels of American society and culture, there is such a
fracturing of values. There are no heroes…. There is little trust in a
number of public institutions…. I am not saying Starbucks is going to
save the world because we can’t…. What we’ve done is provide a safe
harbor for people to go. I think the brand equity of the name Starbucks
has supplied a level of trust and confidence, not only in the product, the
trademark, but in the experience of what Starbucks is about. At a time
when there are very few things that people have faith in. It’s a very
fragile thing. You can’t take it for granted. It’s something that has to be
respected and continually built upon.
(Schulz, quoted in Koehn, 2001:247)