Checked out Whole Foods Market’s new Lifestyle store in WeHo — and got an organic cotton tank!
Finally, I can try green clothes on before buying them — and I don’t have to pay shipping fees! That’s me, to the left, wearing my new autumn tree tank from moreTrees.
Afterwards, I went to a Starbucks across the street and asked for fair trade coffee. Barista1 didn’t know what it was, and asked barista2, who went into the back to ask the manager. Then he came back and let me know that Cafe Estima’s the new fair trade blend, but that this store doesn’t carry it “because we’re small.”
Then the manager came out to tell me the same thing, and added that she tried to order Cafe Estima for her store, but “they wouldn’t send it to us.” She advised trying the WeHo1 store, across from the 24 Hour Fitness.
Is this true? Are small Starbucks forbidden to carry fair trade certified coffee? Cuz if so, they might mention that on the website claim –
But nothing can bring me down, cuz I’ve got my moreTrees tank on. I even bought white wine, so nothing bad’ll happen even if I drink too much and spill things –
Update, 1/18/06: moreTrees loves me back!
Whole Foods Market Lifestyle. 7859 Santa Monica Blvd. West Hollywood, CA. 323.848.4200. 11am-8pm.
Filed in: starbuckschallenge coffee csr fair-trade fairtrade starbucks unsuccess westhollywood 60520 california wholefoods organic shopping
You are my hero. The world is better (though sometimes kicking and screaming) as a result of your efforts.
Comment by Lloyd — November 22, 2005 @ 3:20 pm
I love your shirt!
I don’t know if my Starbucks counts as small, but my guess is yes. And they have had Cafe Estima in the past, but have been out for about a month. They know I want it, so every time I walk in they apologize, but it’s still not there… So, I ordered coffee on-line for my own little self. it’s not like I coud go without…. DUH!
Comment by Andrea — November 22, 2005 @ 4:02 pm
I love your Arctic Wildlife Refuge ad! Another issue we share.
Comment by Andrea — November 22, 2005 @ 4:03 pm
Very cute!
And very depressing that they have *yet another* excuse. I think it’s time Cindy spoke up – what does Starbucks say about all this? (Maybe we need to get her a blogger account ;)
Comment by Robert 'Groby' Blum — November 22, 2005 @ 4:58 pm
Lloyd and Robert — I wish Starbucks would actually do some kicking and screaming to get the fair trade promise they’ve made carried out in stores. Instead, so far they’ve only sent gentle electronic “reminders.” Hmmm… Cindy does speak up sometimes on blog comments, but so far it’s been more to defend Starbucks’ current policies rather than to give details on why even these policies aren’t being carried out in stores, much less what Starbucks will do to make sure these are carried out in stores in the near future…
Andrea — Did you end up getting Monkey & Son? Lemme know what you think :) I love the Arctic Wildlife Refuge ad too! Not only is it a great issue, but it also puts me a few bucks closer to buying a bike of my own ;) Before this, I had no idea you could send a mere penny via paypal. Anyway — donate a penny to the cause! Or, take your cup to Starbucks, save a dime, and donate 10 pennies :)
Thanks for the compliments on the shirt everyone :)
Comment by Siel — November 22, 2005 @ 5:27 pm
My husband and I just took the challenge and tagged it at del.icio.us. Our report is here. Amazingly, we got the “small store” line too!
Comment by lauren — November 22, 2005 @ 5:31 pm
…never thought I would hear anyone define a Starbucks as small. If the company cannot afford to stock each store the same — espcially regarding a certain coffee blend — they are a long way off from meeting anything Cindy as been telling you.
I like how they pick and choose their battles. This seems to show that when it really matters, they will sit on the fence…
Starbucks wants to put all indie shops out but will not stock even their “small” stores with Fair Trade coffee.
…right…
Comment by Jason Duncan — November 22, 2005 @ 8:44 pm
My dear, you look quite smashing in that tank.
Comment by George — November 22, 2005 @ 9:25 pm
The last two times I dropped by my local Starbucks, they had closed early, the last time, nearly four hours before closing. They were gracious enough to leave the drive-thru open, but I had tried to do the right thing, take my bike, and leave the car at home. I don’t know why they bother opening so many stores when it’s apparently not financially viable to keep them open and staffed. Oh well, I think I’m done trying with them.
Comment by Brian — November 22, 2005 @ 11:14 pm
One thing I wonder is — Has anyone seen a Starbucks go out of business? I know some Starbucks were stopped from opening in areas due to protests, but I’m wondering if there are any that opened that were not financially viable — perhaps due to service issues like Brian and others have pointed out. Not to mention the Challenge-related “break down in customer service.” Stores really seem to vary widely in terms of service, from uber-efficient and just generally sweet to, um, not even open during their hours –
I’ll try and find out next week whether or not this “small store” excuse is one allowed/mandated by headquarters, or whether it’s a lie on the store’s part.
Comment by Siel — November 23, 2005 @ 10:18 pm
Someone mentioned to me several weeks ago that in their home town in KS (not sure which one), there was a indie coffee retailer that had been there for years. Finally, our green giant friends decided to open right across the street.
People then began to go to the indie even more and the Starbucks had to close.
Just a dream? Not sure. Good story? for sure..
Comment by Jason Duncan — November 25, 2005 @ 5:43 am
There were rumors, when I was living in the UK, that Starbucks there would sometimes open more stores than were viable in the long-term in order to run other coffee shops out of business, and then later scale back once they had monopolized the market.
At least in Nottingham, that didn’t turn out to be true either way: None of the three Starbucks stores in the city center (all within a mile radius and all appearing the same year) closed, nor were either of the competing chains (Costa Coffee or Cafe Nero) forced to scale back. In fact they both opened new outlets. So, that claim, at least in Nottingham, turned out to be just idle rumor.
What Starbucks did do in Nottingham, which pissed off more than a few locals, was open one of their stores without waiting for the necessary building permits. It doesn’t appear that the Nottingham Evening Post’s archives will let me go back that far, but the rumor then was that the fines they incurred by not waiting for the permits were quickly offset within the first few days of the store’s opening ahead of schedule.
Of course, I don’t know how much merit there is to that rumor either. I found the Brits generally wary of large American chains, and they did tend to be a little overeager to perpetuate anything bad said about whatever McBurgerBucks was opening in the area. Yeah, don’t know how all that’s relevant, but there you go …
Comment by Brian — November 27, 2005 @ 12:48 am
I should mention that, at the time, I was a barrista at one of the Brit chains in Nottingham, so I was privy to all the good gossip. :)
Comment by Brian — November 27, 2005 @ 12:50 am
Siel,
You look so lovely in our moreTrees tank! I’m the designer and I was delighted to see that you’re enjoying the moreTrees experience. We’d love to put your comments on our testimonial page for our website, so please get in touch! http://www.moretreeshemp.com
Comment by Meghan — January 14, 2006 @ 8:44 pm
How did this comment escape my notice? Sorry to get back to you so late — Will email too right after this. The tee got a lil wine-stained, but I tried washing it with sea salt and the wine came right out! The same can’t be said of my stained non-organic shirts — I wonder if organic shirts have magical, stain-repelling properties?
Comment by Siel — January 18, 2006 @ 12:36 pm
hey i work for whole foods in Denver i’m a TMAG REP, I would like to get your clothing in the hands of our customers and team members. Do you sell clothing? Can you email me, I would like a broucher and some samples if thats possiable! thxz your earth saving friend JO
Comment by JOE LUCERO — October 18, 2006 @ 11:10 pm
Hi Joe — I don’t actually work for moreTrees — You might contact them directly: moretreeshemp.com.
Comment by Siel — October 19, 2006 @ 2:10 pm
I have the same tank! I love it too! It’s fantastic that something more mainstream like Whole Foods is carrying small designers on the west coast. Props to you for recognizing this and making a statement about it. I sympathize with you about Starbucks too… I used to live near Seattle and there was one on every corner. It’s too bad they didn’t catch on to the fair trade thing sooner, maybe they could have kept more stores in business longer… Although, I’d rather not support corporate america anyhow, but if I have to, at least it will be in demand of what I want. Thanks for saying something!
Comment by rajah — November 3, 2008 @ 11:18 am