Latte Liberals, and Saving Starbucks

Some coffee musings:

1. It used to be that high-income, left-wing people were referred to as "limousine liberals."  Now they’re referred to as "latte liberals," and Barack Obama wouldn’t be where he is without them.  The difference?  Global warming perhaps?  But part of the reason is the expense, and that leads us to…
2. Starbucks is trying to "reinvent" itself, and they’ve started a website called mystarbucksidea.com to gather some suggestions.  Take a look at the all time favourites, and you’ll find things like this:
   • "Punch" cards for frequent drinkers.
   • Free wi-fi.
   • More comfortable chairs.
   • More substantial breakfast.

But "indie" coffee shops (for the most part) have been offering things like this for years.  They weren’t bad ideas, but Starbucks’ overwhelming marketing presence tended to mask the fact that these were and are good things.  Now that Starbucks is challenged by the economy (and the indies,) they’re asking their customers for advice, and their customers are responding by saying, "Just look at your competitors!"

I’ll leave it to Leonard Sweet to relate this to the church…