Results tagged “starbucks”

LA Times photographer Jay L. Clendenin shows us why it's important to "drop, cover and hold," as earthquake experts tell us. Yes, this photo (see it, and others, in large here) shows a shard of glass on a chair at a Starbucks at Hawthorne and Artesia boulevards. Another photo shows broken glass from a North Long Beach storefront on the sidewalk.

Already anointed by many as a star in the making, even though the release of her self-titled debut album is still months away, Toronto born singer/songwriter Anjulie proved worthy of the early accolades with a first-rate 40 minute performance Wednesday night.

If you are a decaf coffee drinker* and you like to grab your jitter-free java at Starbucks, get ready to cut your consumer hours...or up your wait time. The world's largest coffee chain has announced plans to save some bucks--"$400 million by September," according to USA Today--by having brewed decaf sitting ready only until noon. After noon, customers who want a cup of decaf will have to request it and sit tight; a 'bucks spokesperson said "it takes about four minutes to brew up a fresh cup." The stores wind up wasting product by brewing pots of decaf continually since the demand decreases in the afternoon, and these days, even for the coffee maven, saving a few bucks can go a long way. (*Seriously, what's the point?)

Many businesses and institutions will be closed around the nation and in Los Angeles tomorrow in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Although most people are perfectly pleased to spend the third day of a three-day weekend lolling about in bed, hunkering down in front of the television set, or enjoying some fun in our winter sun, there's a large-scale movement focused on making tomorrow about doing good for others and not just yourself.

As you head out to get that cup of joe this morning, think about this:

Starbucks is not doing so well, but McDonalds is (hey, cheap coffee!). And what is better than cheap? Free. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is doing an "open hours" of some sort which basically means complimentary 12 oz. holiday themed coffees, teas, lattes and expressos at all their California storefronts. If you plan taking them up, the offer is only good beween 5 and 8 p.m. tonight (but some stores are doing their own thang).

People love free stuff. People have been asking about where the nearest Ben and Jerry or Krispy Kremes are. Now you know! Overheard at Starbucks..."I don't like coffee, but I do like FREE."

There's a long--and growing--list of places who are offering freebies and treats to people who say they voted or who can show their "I Voted" sticker. Some places offering goodies include Starbucks (free cup of coffee), Krispy Kreme (free donut), O!Burger (free fries or cookies with any burger order), and the Colorado Wine Company (1/2 off wine), to name a few. This of course immediately produces some ire among those who voted by mail and didn't get a sticker and those whose citizenship/residency prohibits them from voting despite having political awareness; it's no fun to be left out, especially when we're talking free coffee and donuts!

Now this is probably one of the coolest success stories of government communicating with the public efficiently. LA Fire Department Spokesman Brian Humphrey writes at their blog about overhearing a Starbucks Barista using Twitter to find out what passing fire trucks are up to:

Dear baristas and coffee mixologists of LA:

Ready for your morning cup of irony? There's a list and map of all the Starbucks closures on the website of a newspaper making quite a few cutbacks of its own.

Earlier this month, Starbucks announced the closure of approximately 600 U.S. stores. On Friday, they released the list, which included eight California locations. If you wanted your local 'bucks to stay so you can buy music coffee, then you're in luck. Here are the eight cities in California where they will be closing: San Diego, Rancho Mirage, Hemet, Riverside, Monclair, Victorville, Hollister, Laguna Beach. There are hundreds of Starbucks in the Los Angeles area.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz's not-just-a-coffee-but-a-lifestyle plans for global domination continue to crumble. Best known for making coffee really expensive, Starbucks will close 600 "underperforming" stores and lay off 12,000 employees in the U.S. The company that over-franchised to the point of putting your favorite ma and pa coffeeshops out of business since 1971 is swimming in a hot brown sea of bad news. Recently Starbucks backed off its short-lived promise deliver good music and then proceeded to introduce a new coffee blend that was described as "reminiscent of a taste from the dentist's office." Check this map to see if your Starbucks has disappeared.

Coffee giant Starbucks is in a fight for its financial and physical dominance of the American coffee landscape. While they've been focusing on pushing music, videos and green tea frozen lattes in recent years, they kinda sorta forgot about coffee. Real coffee. The drip kind that grabs you by the collar and wishes you a perky "hello" in the morning.

• For those who thought oil spills only happened when big tankers in Alaska collided with icebergs, may I point you to the South Bay? Crews were busy Saturday cleaning up about 5,500 gallons of oil that spilled into the wetlands area around Machado Lake. The oil apparently overflowed from an oil-and-water separator at the Cooper & Brain Oil Co. field near PCH at the 110 Freeway. You might remember Machado Lake as the former home of Reggie, the beloved alligator who now lives at the zoo. Good thing, because I've never heard of a black alligator before.
• A mysterious crash in Sherman Oaks early Saturday left one person dead that CHP officials said might have been a burglar being chased by the people whose homes he allegedly robbed. The motorist died when he skidded into a concrete wall on the Sepulveda Boulevard offramp after being chased by the CHP. Four others were hurt.
• For the first time in its history, the SWAT training unit has accepted a woman into its program. Jennifer Grasso, 36, is one of 13 officers selected for the department's 12-week training school, which starts Monday. Congratulations, Grasso. Just remember what Tom Hanks advised another female who was competing in a man's world: there's no crying in SWAT school.
• According to Paid Content, pop culture-focused social media site Buzznet has acquired indie-music blog Stereogum for $5 million. What this means for the future of Stereogum is unclear, but its owners are reportedly staying on to run the site. Now that's what I call indie.
• A change for Disneyland's It's a Small World ride are reportedly in the works. Disney apparently plans to add its name-brand characters to the anonymous cast that currently populates the ride. It has caused a huge uproar among the original artist's family. There is something so poetic about controversy at the so called Happiest Place on Earth.
• Jazz lovers in Long Beach are praising a judge's decision to open the Backstage jazz and blues supper club. An apartment owner had sought an injunction to halt construction, saying the music would force tenants to move. Noise studies did not bore out the owner's claims as the judge kind of blue jazz owners away with his decision.
• Add cantaloupe's to the list of food items being recalled. On Friday, Dole asked consumers not to buy or eat their beige melons picked in Honduras for fear that they were contaminated with salmonella.
• Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said he will not pay his California baristas more than $100 million in tips a San Diego judge said is owed to them after several employees sued the company. Schultz said there is no money to be refunded from the tips that are usually shared with shift supervisors. Last year, Starbucks was named the 16th best company to work for. Hundreds of disgruntled employees might disagree.
  Continue reading "Extra, Extra: We're Not in Alaska Anymore"

In a class-action lawsuit brought forward by a San Diego area Starbucks employee, the chain coffee retailer was told yesterday they broke the law and owe California baristas millions in back tips, plus interest. "Starbucks illegally took a huge amount of money from the tip pool to pay shift supervisors, rather than paying them out of its own pocket. The court's verdict rightfully restores that money to the baristas," Attorney Laura Ho said of the case.

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Ah, another glorious, status conscious, conspicuously consuming day. I've spent such a long time typing away on my Macbook Air, and now I'm just about ready to drive home to Beechwood Canyon where I'll spend the evening watching Bravo. Hotcha!

UPDATE, 12:10 P.M.: We forgot to remind you that Sia is playing this afternoon in Santa Monica for free. 2:00 p.m., Starbucks, random (see first bullet in Extra, Extra list).

You may have heard that February is Breakfast month here at LAist, in which we celebrate the glory that is the morning meal. But our celebration is twinged with sadness for those who may have been fans of the a.m. food fare served up at Starbucks. The company has announced they are ditching their breakfast sandwiches and declaring that their Mission: Lure Customers Back from Fast Food Joints that Sell Breakfast Eats that Include Some Form of Protein was ultimately unsuccessful.

Despite the fact that Britney Spears seems only able to produce crappy albums and awkward shows, have very public meltdowns, eschew court dates, check in and out of rehab, vacillate about her religious affiliation, flash her nether-regions to eager photogs, and drink away her liquid assets in Starbucks Frappucinos, the truth of the matter is, the business of being Britney is extremely profitable...for everyone else in her world.

Forget the pageantry and regal demeanor of the Rose Parade, the 31st Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade is the ultimate antidote. Billed as being the loud and irreverent twister sister of the aforementioned annual march down Colorado Boulevard, the parade promises to "send up a woolly range of mischiefs, grounded superheroes, political pundits, homegrown satirists, art car inventors, and other bohemian frolickers."

Here in LA, we’ve seen record store closures from the behemoth Tower chain to the local gem Sea Level Records as of late – a clear sign that the record business is edging closer to extinction with each new year. We are most likely heading towards a world where music is primarily consumed digitally, with physical product existing only for the die-hards who feel that they need to own something tangible along with their music. Would a plastic card emblazoned with album artwork or a band photo do the trick? That’s what Starbucks and now Sony are betting on.

An opinion piece in today's LA Times raises the issue of what seems to be the rampant Pinkberry-fication of many of our local neighborhoods, using recent food and retail closings and openings in the popular Larchmont Village as an example of how major-chain development affects the unique vibe of a given area.

Would you like a nonfat latte with that Big Mac?

I will admit, I get a little excited when I notice that Starbucks launches their holiday-time drinks menu. Candy canes and Christmastime go hand in hand for me, and at this time of year I'm a total sucker for anything that's got some peppermint in it, from Trader Joe's' Candy Cane flavored "Jo-Jo" cookies to--you guessed it--the Starbucks Peppermint Mocha. There's something wholly satisfying and just a tad indulgent about a mocha jazzed up with some wintery peppermint flavor, topped with a generous heaping of their tasty whipped cream and decorated with a cheery and festive shaking of red sprinkles.

Molly's Charbroiled Burger, a rickety burger shack on Vine between Selma and Hollywood, is one of those funny little places that is both totally ordinary and totally L.A. -- run by Koreans, with a Mexican line cook, who serve up good old American burgers, fries, hot dogs, burritos, and, um, bulgogi plates. Students at the neighboring film and recording schools swear by the breakfast burritos -- cozy bundles of egg, french-fry hash browns, bacon,...

This is a tad blurry but it makes me laugh. Courtesy of singer/songwriter Stephanie Jacobson....