After 6 months, partners receive paid vacations, discounts on serviced Starbucks has contracted with, and discounts on products to take home.
Of course, the discounts help also to bring more friends and relatives into Starbucks -- certainly, if one serves the coffee at home then that is a great recommendation for the brand. Branding and flexibility with product at Starbucks is impressive, too. Since the 3rd Space concept engenders people coming to Starbucks and spending time, the company has invested in several different types of foodstuffs, not simply the traditional pastries, but breakfast and lunch sandwiches, soups in some locations, and so many different permutations of coffee drinks that everyone can surely find something to drink -- even if they do not care for coffee See: Mann, 2007; Gold, 2008).
Human Resource Strategy - Starbucks also believes in utilizing its own human resources to fill openings within its corporate structure. That may be promotion to managers of local shops, to filling marketing and corporate positions at its Seattle or international offices. This idea of on-the-job training and loyalty is very appealing in that it engenders a two-part loyalty system: Starbucks is loyal to their employees, the employees, in turn, will be more loyal to...
This is especially important in modern American business culture, since most new employees feel that the next promotion is simply that next job Snyder, 2006).
Starbucks is clearly both pro-customer and pro-employee. The company has an active culture and a vision to make the experience delightful for all involved. Salaries are highly competitive within the retail world, benefits are outstanding, and the desire to change a simple cup of coffee into an "experience" is both appealing and desirous -- if somewhat artificial (Davis, 2008). Despite these tactics, it is also clear that the core value of the customer is in evidence; all the new products and services, and even the new pricing and marketing programs, are specifically designed to also increase customer convenience and satisfaction.
Recent Changes -- Due to the economic downturn, Starbucks has slowed down its aggressive new store openings a bit and, in July 2008, closed 600 under performing company owned stores. It also cut 1,000 non-retail jobs as part of an overall plan to reenergize the company and profit. This effectively ended the company's continual growth cycle that began in the early 1990s (Adamy, 2009). Starbucks has also taken a critical look at its global stores, closing 61 of its 84
