K-Squared Ramblings

Venti Schmenti

So what do you think…

Would it be a bad idea to bring this travel mug to Starbucks? #

(On another note, the sound of gardening tools outside the office is blending with the computer fans for really weird harmonics. #)

B5, Kean Coffee, Flu and Chess

• Went to Kean Coffee (new place by founder of Diedrich). Very good. The place was packed. Starbucks never knew what to do w/that location. #
• Single-shot flu vaccines (instead of yearly) may be coming if this discovery pans out. (via @BadAstronomer) #
• JMS’s original notes for what became Babylon 5. #
• Listening to Chess. Only 1 year before Les Miserables, but sounds so much more dated because it was done in a 1980s pop rock style. #

No More Diedrich

Diedrich Coffee’s website no longer has a store locator. It’s all online ordering. %^*! Starbucks. #

On another note, saw a great misspelling in search terms: “synapses” for “synopsis” #

Changelings and Vampires and Smurfs. Oh, My!

• Wow… Kenneth Turan really liked Changeling. Yay JMS! #
• Trying out LoudTwitter to send daily digests to LJ. (Thanks, andrea_wot!) #
• Announcement over phone system: “There are cupcakes in the lunch room.” 2 seconds later, loud footsteps running down the hall. #
• Smurfs are 50 years old? WTF! I thought they were creations of the 80s! #
• Public Service Announcement: it’s “for all INTENTS AND purposes,” not “for all INTENSIVE purposes.” “intensive” doesn’t even make any sense. #
• Saw “Let the Right One In.” Less horror, more twisted revenge fantasy/coming of age movie. With vampires. #
• Also: the Diedrich Coffee across from UCI is now a Peet’s #

Starbucks Overreaching (and Java)

A couple of years ago, Starbucks bought all 30 or so company-owned Diedrich Coffee stores.  There were a couple of franchise locations (well, kiosks, really) in Orange County, and one of the Texas stores, but that was it.  Most of them were converted or shut down, with only two keeping the Diedrich name and menu (both in Irvine, oddly enough).  The one across from UCI eventually got converted.

The Diedrich nearest where we live was always busy.  After it had been assimilated, though, we never saw it full.  People didn’t go there just because of the location, they went there because it was a Diedrich.

Now it’s on the list of stores that Starbucks is closing, along with a newer one that opened about a quarter-mile away.  (They haven’t updated the web page yet, but it’s on the PDF.)

In essense, Starbucks bought an (apparently) successful business and ran it into the ground.  I really hate when that happens.

Obviously the place, when it was a Diedrich, wasn’t taking money that would have gone to Starbucks, since their customers didn’t stick around when it was converted.  And the one store that does still have the Diedrich name and menu always has customers whenever I end up in the area — so it’s not just people avoiding the parent company. It’s people who don’t like the Starbucks coffee and atmosphere.  (And possibly the name.)

I have to wonder how that other store would have done if they’d kept it intact instead of homogenizing it.

On a completely different note: It’s really annoying that the security updater for Java is trying to install the Yahoo Toolbar.

Full-Spectrum Coffee

Between cash, lunch and an errand, I walked the full length of the Irvine Spectrum today, and realized there will soon be 7 coffee shops in or near the shopping center—and 4 of them are Starbucks.

It opened with just one: a Diedrich Coffee, attached to Barnes & Noble.

Phase 2 (from the movie theaters to the carousel) added a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

Phase 3 (from the carousel to the ferris wheel) doubled the number, adding a Kelly’s Coffee & Fudge, and a Starbucks inside Barnes & Noble, which moved into the new section.

Somewhere around then the Diedrich closed. Without the bookstore traffic, it was off in a corner where only people going to restaurants would see it.

Then they put in a Nordstrom, with a Nordstrom e-Bar.

Then they extended the mall past the Nordstrom, put a Target at the end, and put a Starbucks in the Target.

Then they built an apartment complex across the street, and put a Starbucks in the apartment complex.

Now they’ve gone back to the first section, adding a new row of shops in front of the movie theater. And they’re filling in a corner long left vacant…with another Starbucks.

Priorities

The new shopping center, The District (built on a corner of the former MCAS Tustin base), has an ad campaign with the slogan, “A million reasons why.” Each poster shows someone posing with a random number and something that can be found, done, or resolved by going there.

Here’s a guy who has his priorities straight. They’ve got Peet’s, Seattle’s Best Coffee, there’s a coffee bar in the Whole Foods, and who knows how many more restaurants that serve it.

Of course, if he wanted more choices, he’d be better off going to the Irvine Spectrum. They’ve got a Coffee Bean, a Kelly’s, 2 Starbucks (and a third on the way), and a Nordstrom Espresso Bar. And once upon a time, they had a Diedrich…

Speaking of Diedrich, the one on Culver and Barranca is still around at least through next summer. I haven’t been by the one near UCI lately, but I seem to recall hearing October, so it may not be long for this world.

Hmm, you know what? That poster lists a lot of caffeine sources, but it doesn’t say anything about coffee. With luck they won’t be too confused if you just order a coffee, as in this strip from Real Life Comics.

Positive Spin

Bumper sticker spotted on a Corner Bakery delivery van:

It reminds me of the warnings you see on cardboard coffee cups that say things like, “The beverage you are about to enjoy is extremely hot.” Though my favorite is still one from the late, lamented* Diedrich Coffee that said, “Of course it’s hot!”

*OK, they’re not completely gone—there are still two stores left in Orange County since Starbucks bought them out and either closed or converted the rest. *grumble*

Chains of Coffee

We have four coffee-house chains in the area, in addition to local places.

My favorite is Diedrich Coffee, with a couple dozen locations in Orange County, two each in LA and San Diego… and three each in Houston and Denver. (In the last few months, Diedrich has started selling T-shirts that say, “Venti, Schmenti.”)

Then there’s Kelly’s Coffee and Fudge Factory, which had about five locations the last time I checked but now has about thirty scattered around Southern California with one more in Lake Havasu… and according to their website, they’re opening one in Riyadh. Yes, Riyadh.

And then there are the international chains. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is all over the American Southwest and Southeast Asia. Starbucks, of course, is everywhere.

At one point we had all four chains in one mall. The first phase of the Irvine Spectrum had a Diedrich Coffee attached to the Barnes & Noble, before the bookstore hooked up with Starbucks. The second phase added a Coffee Bean. The third phase added a Kelly’s, and the Barnes & Noble moved to the new section… and added a Starbucks coffee bar inside. Unfortunately the Diedrich’s was off in a corner, and without the bookstore to bring people in, it eventually closed.

Edit: I can’t believe I forgot these, but if you really look for them, you can find Peet’s and Seattle’s Best. Neither has many stores in the area, though.