by Wes Abney
Business Manager

When did the morning pick me up evolve into a triple venti half caff. with soy and absolutely no whipped cream? Wait, $6 for that coffee treat? Wake up people!

Is it any surprise that Starbucks’ share prices are down across the board, and that the company is looking at making job and store cuts throughout the greater Seattle area? This is the hometown of café passion, but the Starbucks price hike isn’t flying in its home city.

Personally, I won’t pay for their coffee. I don’t support the idea that huge profits should deny my right to a high quality cup o’ joe. Unfortunately, I always get Starbucks’ lovely little cards for gifts, and all this means is that I know exactly how much their latté abominations cost. Nationwide, their coffee sales are reflecting my sentiments. In the currently shaky stock market, Starbucks shares are down 2.3 percent, or 41 cents a share.

Overall, Starbucks Corp. is responsible for over 170,000 jobs and even more cups of coffee. They are the largest worldwide coffee company in existence. This gives them a huge amount of responsibility for the lives and markets they influence. Following the loss of a CEO and the rehire of Howard Schultz, the company is dropping 220 corporate jobs in the city of Seattle. As a native of this fair city, it concerns me that a company as entrenched as Starbucks is struggling to survive.

So what is the answer? Cheaper coffee prices. Lately, other big name coffee companies have been working to keep things simple. Specifically, Dunkin’ Donuts has started advertising basic choices for their caffeinestarved clientele.

Now even McDonalds is serving espresso at their discounted fast food prices. Would you like fries with that cappuccino?

Every morning, I wake up and get my coffee for $1.50 no matter where I go. How do I manage this budget conscious coffee addiction? Gas stations, where I get six choices on blends and all the free syrups and extras I could possibly hope for. Is Chevron on to something? I believe so.

Even with an attempt at selling $1 cups of regular black coffee at select Seattle stores, Starbucks is still facing dwindling profits and interest in their product. They need to drop their coffee prices if they want to see any real change among their consumers.

In the end, a cup of coffee is a cup of coffee, and the coffee consumer is going to find it where it’s fastest and cheapest- and Starbucks needs to learn that lesson.