All Set for A Change?

A big change is hitting a street corner near you in the spring. For the first time since 1992, Starbucks, the wonderful, warm coffee house chain, will be updating their logo and branding across the globe. To that. That's right. That green thing above what you're reading now.

A monstrosity? A very clever move? You see, they've taken the Starbucks branding away. It no longer reads 'Starbucks Coffee'. Instead we have some form of woman with fins for arms with a crown. She's called 'The Siren', apparently. News to me.

Personally, I think it's an expense Starbucks didn't really have to make. They have an iconic brand built upon that logo. Suddenly, by taking away what makes them the best coffee house in the world, they've destroyed it all. I'm sure a logo change isn't exactly going to stop all their favourite coffee drinkers from going in - I'll still be making my daily visit, that's for sure. But there's just a feeling of anxiety. Why change the logo if it's all going so well? What aren't they telling us? We'll find out when the end of Q1 data hits, I guess.

However, all those at the Hitchin store - make sure my tall filter coffee remains the same. And my caramel mocha. And my tall skinny hazelnut lattes. Please.

What will worry those involved in the high street chains, however, will be the news that hit the Stock Exchange this morning, and would send a lot of people into a flurry of panic. The news of sales being down 10% at HMV will lead to 60 stores being shut across the country. Seeing as they also own Waterstone's, that's not great news. I worked for Christmas at Waterstone's, and the people I worked with were like my little Crimbo family, so it's awful for all of them. But, they did want to leave anyway... That's the last major record shop, and also the last major bookshop in the UK in trouble, so what is left of our wonderful, old-world living styles?

Yeah, everything is now on the internet, but surely there's nothing like flicking through the sleevenotes of a new CD? Reading those final chapters of that new book? It just seems crazy to me - soon the high street will be a thing of the past. Thanks, Amazon.

Not only that with business news, though. Next, the large UK clothing store, announced that they have lost around £22m because of the snow. Honestly, you couldn't make this stuff up. We get a foot or so of snow in London and the surrounding areas, where the majority of stores are. Compared to last year, Britain coped extremely well, but seriously? £22,000,000?! I don't think so.

What do I think? Bull. They've made less money than expected, so they'll shift the blame onto an external influence to their stores. Share prices dropped a fair bit, and rightfully so. They've lost money. But if other shops can make a lot of money, like John Lewis and Waitrose announced they did today, then why can't Next? I mean, the John Lewis Partnership have agreed to open 39 new stores around the UK. That's crazy shit.

Marks & Spencer will announce their figures in the coming weeks, and that'll tell us where we are in terms of the market - it always does. It's scary times for the UK high street, but the financial might of our great nation will help pull us through.

That, and a few Starbucks-branded cappuccinos.

http://gmoai.posterous.com/all-set-for-a-change email Taken from General Musings of an Idiot: http://gmoai.posterous.com