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The Dispatch wrote
Will McCafes’ java lure coffee lovers?
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
BY BILL CHRONISTER
What with fuel prices, food costs and the onset of summer doldrums, you deserve a break today — or so McDonald’s would like you to think. The fast-food giant has, for the past three months, been installing espresso-based coffee bars and training baristas at restaurants across central Ohio. They’re in 23 stores so far, in Columbus, Dublin, Lewis Center, Marion, Mount Gilead, Mount Vernon, Newark, Pataskala, Reynoldsburg, Westerville and Zanesville.
Local franchisees expect to have them in 106 locations by the end of July. The McCafe coffees, like Starbucks’ and Dunkin’ Donuts’, start with espresso. And like the other two, McDonald’s offers a wide selection of lattes, iced lattes, mochas and cappuccinos in a variety of syrup-based flavors. Prices might differ, but they start at $1.99 for a 12-ounce drink.
Related Stories:
- Starbucks to Close 600 Stores, May Cut 12,000 Jobs
- Dunkin’ Donuts dips further into Columbus market
- Poll: Best Coffee in Columbus
- Review: Yeah Me Too…. Coffee
Hate McD’s coffee.
Hate McD’s Gourmet coffee.
Hate McD’s Bistrot coffee (Europe and Canada, I think.)
OTOH, if you are someone who puts syrups and other additives thereby ruining the loving grace of nature, then it is fine.
In all seriousness – more players in the game is good. It just demonstrates what I keep saying that Starbucks is the tide that raised all ships.
A.
The only reason I have had any of this was from free cupons and thats it.
I agree ever since they changed to the “New Bold” stuff I HATE McD’s coffee. And the funny thing is I used to like to old stuff but now that everyone has gone to Arabica beans it’s hard to find a cup of the non-bitter swill!
It’ll draw Central Ohio residents, all right. Coffee lovers may be another story.
I note with considerable amusement that they mention that the new cafes will serve espresso, this-tinos, that-tinos, etc., etc. — but not a word about the coffee.
My mom, over the past year, has decided that McDonalds coffee is good value. Conflicting feelings about Micky D’s (memories of happy meals and playground fun vs. a current contempt for fast food) makes agreeing with her difficult. However, after walking past a McCafe on the main drag in Auckland for several months curiousity won out and I eventually had to stop in to investigate the slightly awkward concept. Being a proponent for the importance of atmosphere in any establishment, I felt kinda funny sitting on my shiny plastic molded seat beside the busy street with my McLatte (in a ceramic coffee cup with swirly foam!) reading the newspaper under the golden arches. :)
I would check one out around here just to see if they kept the same formula for these setups.
P.S. the article also mentions:
Dude, there’s finally a reason to whip out that cow costume just taking up space in the closet! Would it be wrong to get Zoo Tracks icecream from Graeters for dessert still dressed as a cow? :D
There’s something that feels incongrous about this, but Starbucks is also a chain. If they get the atmosphere right and serve good coffee, I bet lots of folks will at least check it out. I don’t know if I’d hang out at a McDonalds in the same way I do at Cup o Joe.
I’ve never heard of this. Is there one of these “McCafe”‘s near to downtown/Clintonville?
this concept has flown for years in places like Australia. McD’s has been trying to figure out a way to introduce it in the US, and I think many comments in this thread indicate the perception problems they face.
and yes to Andrew, I have argued for years that Starbucks financed the coffee tide that makes so many other coffee shops float.
And, to be fair, profited from it immensely.
And, to be fair, profited from it immensely.
nothing wrong with being compensated for your correspondingly immense investment.
i just think a lot of people seem to be under the guise that circa 1985 every corner had an independent coffee shop on the corner making espressos, lattes and poetry jams.
in truth, few existed. most people drank folgers from home, or a cup of maxwell house at the office. starbucks funded the marketing campaign that made the bulk of Americans think that coffee was a luxury item, that it needed specific roasts, syrups, foams, its own language, in its own setting. this investment spawned legions who sought out coffee and the coffee-house vibe – even creating those who sought something more ‘authentic’ than Starbucks, even though they had no idea what that exactly was and it never existed in their town before.
i used to have a great article from Burlington, VT in the late 90s when Starbucks was coming to town and all the locals cringed at how it would change things. One of the local coffee shop owners dared to point out that of the 10 ‘independent’ coffee shops in town, only 1 was more than a decade old. all the others evolved and profited from coffee becoming a hip or fad commodity. a starbucks dependent fad.
it is afterall possibly the strongest reason why mcD’s recognized the profitability of it and launched McCafe in response.
I wonder when Grimace, and the rest of McDonaldland will start appearing in commercials making coffee. Perhaps the Hamburglar will start wearing an apron.
I would think a themed coffee joint staffed by costumed cast members has great potential for an creative and far-sighted local coffee shop entrepreneur…
A.
yeah i don’t think i’d be caught dead hanging out with my laptop sipping a latte at mcdonalds. i have consumed their iced beverages with mcbucks that were given to me, but i don’t think i’ll be going back there unless i start craving corn syrup.
i just think a lot of people seem to be under the guise that circa 1985 every corner had an independent coffee shop on the corner making espressos, lattes and poetry jams.
in truth, few existed. most people drank folgers from home, or a cup of maxwell house at the office. starbucks funded the marketing campaign that made the bulk of Americans think that coffee was a luxury item, that it needed specific roasts, syrups, foams, its own language, in its own setting.
All true. I was just pointing out that one needn’t believe they did so with altruism in their hearts: their intention, clearly, was to create an environment in which their own business would thrive. If anything, they were too successful. Now they have to fend off challenges from local places like Stauf’s / Cup O’ Joe and other national chains (McD’s, Dunkin’ Donuts), not to mention higher-end specialty coffee roasters like Intelligentsia, Stumptown, Terroir, and Counter Culture. And they’ve ended up in the unpalatable position of opposing poor Ethiopian farmers who want to trademark their location names (Yirgacheffe, Harrar, Sidamo) and reap the benefit of trademark fees.
FYI, when I got breakfast this morning at the McD’s on 5th ave in Grandview they asked if I wanted to try any of the new specialty coffees for free. I was still half asleep and I don’t drink coffee so I said, No thanks, and went on with my order, but if I was smart I would have TRIED something since it was free. An iced latte maybe? I don’t know. Anyway, I may check in on my way to a mtg later and see if they are still doing it and if not I’ll use the coupon they gave me for a free one on another visit.
Good. The attempt to go outside the pretty universally recognized and useful GIs into trademarks is ill-thought-out and has bad consequences.
For example, if you trademark “Burgundy” it becomes IP and you could have EJ Gallo buy it and go right back to ‘Hearty Burgundy’ making the utility of the term go to zero. (Yes, I know they still make it and the US is bad offender in the GI issue.)
A.
Hence “unpalatable” — rather than, say, “unwise.” :wink:
Truth be told, I don’t know enough about the issue to have an opinion, and informed opinion seems to differ on the merits of this particular suit, given the way it was framed. But if trademarking did open up the Gallo scenario, I’m surprised Starbucks didn’t jump at the opportunity.
Geezlouise! Did the Mermaid steal your soup?
Starbucks has invested enough $$$ in their own trademarkable stuff, they have little interest in that. GIs really work to everyone’s benefit. I suspect that the farmers also have an interest in diluting the meaning of place names which you could do w/ a trademark.
The irony is that it has been in good part the work of the roasters, purveyors and consmers which have given names like Yrgachieffe or Harrar a value.
A.
Geezlouise! Did the Mermaid steal your soup?
Oh, no — not meaning to imply that they’re malicious — just that it sounds like a very savvy business opportunity. No way could Intelligentsia and the rest outbid them on trademarks; I imagine they could monopolize Ethiopian place names quite easily if they wanted to. And your earlier post suggested that that was precisely the kind of maneuver that this would make possible. So I’m just puzzled by the fact that they ended up at the forefront of the movement to stop it.