It’s not like there’s a dearth of stories in financial journalism these days.
So what is the Financial Times doing slapping a story about the New York Stock Exchange getting a Starbucks on the front of its Companies & Markets section?
Here’s the lede:
A new commodity is set to be traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange from today - lattes.
In a further step in the evolution of what was once the epicentre of the global equity trading system, Starbucks is opening a concession among the trading screens.
Scintillating!
We’re told this is part of a $7.5 million renovation, and that the NYSE is “replacing old cramped wooden cubicles with modern work stations.” In other news, I can report, according to sources, that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is getting some new vinyl wall base and maybe a new hot-dog cart.
This isn’t the first time a major financial newspaper has put a less-than-worthy Starbucks story on the front of its second section, which leads me to think journalists need to put down the crackpi… I mean, coffeepot (and I write this from The Audit’s Seattle bureau).
I got on The Wall Street Journal a year and a half ago for going B1 with the news that Starbucks was going to quit brewing decaf coffee in the afternoons. You could still get p.m. decaf, mind you, but you had to wait a whole four minutes for it to be whipped up.
I wrote then:
the Journal’s Marketplace section just is blah these days. Murdoch and his hand-picked ex-FT editor Robert Thomson seemingly are trying to imitate the FT’s Companies & Markets section, with its emphasis on narrow scoops that don’t say a whole lot.
Nailed it!
Actually, I think the FT went with the wrong angle here. Instead of
NYSE wakes up and smells the coffee with floor revamp
… it could have gone with “Starbucks to open store No. 17,148.”
The subhed, naturally: “Subway will sell sandwiches next door.”
reminds me of the best Onion story ever:
New Starbucks Opens In Rest Room Of Existing Starbucks
June 27, 1998 | ISSUE 33•20
CAMBRIDGE, MA—Starbucks, the nation's largest coffee-shop chain, continued its rapid expansion Tuesday, opening its newest location in the men's room of an existing Starbucks.
"Coffee lovers just can't stand being far from their favorite Starbucks gourmet blends," said Chris Tuttle, Starbucks vice-president of franchising. "Now, people can enjoy a delicious Frappuccino or espresso just about any time they please, even while defecating."
The new men's-room-based Starbucks, the coffee giant's 1,531st U.S. location, will be open to both men and women when not "in use." In addition to offering specialty coffees from around the world, it will serve freshly baked pastries, Italian pannini sandwiches and soups, as well as the rest room's usual selection of toilet paper and soap.
"This is a great addition," said Jonathan Connolly, a Boston-area banker who tried out the new Starbucks Tuesday. "I was enjoying my usual triple mocha latté in the main Starbucks, and I had to go to the bathroom, where three people were in line to use the stalls. The wait might have been a problem, but, to my great pleasure, there was another Starbucks right there, ready to serve me more delicious coffee. And the baristas were helpful and courteous."
Connolly added that after he finished drinking his coffee and using the bathroom, he stayed for a poetry reading near the urinals.
"I was a little bit worried about the new restaurant cutting into our business," said Dave Grobelkowski, manager of the original Starbucks. "But the only people going there are ones who have already purchased items from us anyway. And if we run out of stirrers or cream, we can just go to the bathroom and borrow some."
According to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, the new location represents the beginning of a long-term expansion plan.
"Eventually, Starbucks rest rooms everywhere will sell coffee," Schultz said. "But that ambitious scheme is at least five years down the road. In the meantime, we plan to open an additional location in this Starbucks' ladies' room within months, and are already drafting plans for a fourth restaurant along the corridor leading from the main seating area to the rest rooms. At some point a 'Star-bucks Express' window will eventually open in the walk-in closet of the men's room Starbucks."
"Drink our coffee," Schultz said. "Drink it."
#1 Posted by mwh, CJR on Thu 3 Jun 2010 at 12:41 PM
>> the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is getting some new vinyl wall base
This article is disappointing. It lacks detail. Which gauge - 1/8" or 0.080"?
#2 Posted by F. Murray Rumpelstiltskin, CJR on Thu 3 Jun 2010 at 01:00 PM
mwh, nice.
F. Murray, my sources were conflicted on that. Also, I left out that there's a debate about tile or berber going on at the highest levels of building management.
#3 Posted by Ryan Chittum, CJR on Thu 3 Jun 2010 at 01:53 PM