Just my theory. Below is a Yahoo News snippet on store closings…
The theory…I get this might be disjointed. SB used to be generally open late. In suburbia these days SB closes quietly at 8 pm and 7 pm on the weekends. Why?
My theory is the decaf. I used to drink SB decaf but the women my age in line kept warning me not to drink it. Last year I looked into getting my own coffee maker for the home. I learned more about decaf in the process. SB uses a chemical to reduce the caffeine. About 13%??? is left in a cup of coffee but a 20 oz coffee is over two cups with plenty of the strong caffeine even if reduced. No wonder I was having some sleeping problems.
I now go to Whole Foods for French Roast Decaf that is made using the Swiss Water Process leaving only 0.5% of the caffeine behind.
Back to SB, nearly ten years ago SB went to pour over individually made decaf coffees. This slows people down. As this happened the hours were reduced at SB. SB is not really aware that people in their stores warn each other not to drink the decaf. Aging baby boomers know sleeplessness can become Alzheimer’s or Dementia if the sleeplessness gets unmanageable.
In other words SB cut a corner. Now price after price is being paid. The rent does not go down just because the stores close earlier. The people who do carryout only as the article mentions is the newer focus still wont drink at night the decaf.
I used to respect the CEO who built the company Schultz. But he was the one who cut this corner. Now he is back folding up the company bit by bit up because a $3 venti decaf which costs him well under $0.50 for the cup and material costs he is not good for that.
Many of us know not to drink caffeine after 10 am. It disturbs sleep even if you think you are sleeping well.
11. Starbucks
Year Established: 1971 Store Closures: 400 Branches*
It’s been a tough time for the retail industry, but the hospitality sector has also taken a hard knock. Starbucks has been around since 1971, providing coffee lovers across the world with their daily cup of Java, but even this titan hasn’t come out of 2021 unscathed.
The popular chain announced closures of over 400 stores in the US and Canada as it turns its focus to pick-up only locations. Starbucks said that despite this, it was still hopeful that this move would “enhance the customer experience” and “enable profitable growth for the future.”
Even when I was able to drink coffee I couldn’t drink it after 3 PM. I became suddenly sensitized to caffeine after age 60 and now I can’t consume coffee, tea or chocolate. At all, even decaf.
Wendy
I am in the same camp as Wendybg. I am drinking my coffee now (6 am) and will stop no later than 7. Plus it is much cheaper to buy good coffee and grind it fresh at home. I haven’t looked at the numbers but maybe more seniors are buying coffee beans and brewing their coffee at home.
No chocolate??!! That’s terrible! I try to have at least one small piece a day.
When I worked, I had a morning coffee at 9 or 10am, and an afternoon coffee at 3 or 4 pm. Now that I am retired, I have a morning coffee at 8am or so, and no afternoon coffee most of the time. But I do have afternoon or evening chocolate.
I used to drink a liter a day of high test with no problem, but then it started to bother me and I am now down to 1/2 cup of decaf with a cup of milk in the morning.
Part of this thread, I am concerned about my parents in different and similar ways. I emailed the video on sleep to them.
Dad is a midland 84 not too old nor too young for his age. He has some memory loss par for the course. But he is a caffeine user.
Mom is now claiming on the cusp of 83 that she can have all the caffeine coffee and chocolate she wants. That caffeine no longer bothers her at all. She is right but also wrong in that her sleep will be diminished. We are going to have a little chat mom and I.
Seems people responding here have common sense. But none of you are in your 80s? I think freedom is a different measure in your eighties. Mom really is loving her freedom with caffeine.
Tim Horton’s used to be open very long hours. Not anymore. Most around here close at 6 or 7pm. One closes at 2pm. I would put this down to the food service “JC” whine of “no-one wanna work”.
I have never been impressed with Tim’s coffee, in a good way. Best mud around here is at the VW dealer in Ann Arbor. Second best is at a tire shop in Plymouth.
I am a major chocaholic. I used to eat about 1/3 of a pound of Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips (in the baking aisle) every day. This obviously caused a problem controlling my weight. Worse, it caused “surges” in my head that made me worry that I was getting a stroke.
I gave up chocolate for several years but recently fell off the wagon (dark chocolate Oreo cookies). This appears to be affecting my nervous system since I have been feeling a trembling sensation all over. I gave up the chocolate (except one small piece per day from a gift) a couple of days ago and I’m feeling better.
My major addictions are sugar and chocolate, both of which are bad for me and both of which I have given up multiple times. I don’t use alcohol or actual drugs. I imagine that they wouldn’t agree with me at all since I seem to be hyper sensitive.
Wendy
That was an interesting video link. I have one 12 oz mug of caf. coffee usually before 7 a.m. a day. The rest of the day it is Swiss Process decaf. Here are my two favorites. You can see I like dark roast coffee.
I knew there was a reason I liked you. I consider sugar and dark chocolate major food groups.
I’ve switched to Mast dark chocolate (the lowest levels of lead and cadmium according to Consumer Reports). It’s actually pretty good, but expensive (and Wegmans carries it). And, horrors of horrors, I’ve cut back on my dark chocolate intake.
Dunkin decaf for me. Doctor’s orders. If I go into a DD and the coffee tastes great, I know they made a mistake and gave me regular, which I return. I miss real coffee.
My doctor also told me no dark chocolate because of the caffeine. When I broke down sobbing in her office, she said ok, but just a little!
And you folks flame me for patronizing Arby’s and Wendy’s. :^)
Oh sure, I have see the “studies” reported on the “news”. “new study says you should eat chocolate every day” (study funded by the chocolate industry) “new study says you should drink alcohol every day” (study funded by the alcohol industry) “new study says you should drink coffee every day” (study funded by the coffee industry)
Chocolate is my drug of choice, especially Ghirardelli dark but I stop at around 70%. Higher than that and it is just bitter. I have some form of dark chocolate most days and usually limited to 2-3 squares.
Funny aside, when we gave my niece a piece of dark Ghirardelli when she was 2, she threw her head back, eyes rolled back and lids fluttered, and she let out a big sigh of satisfaction.
I think it’s fair to say that, regardless of funding source, most folk are accepting of studies endorsing whatever it is that’s their particular indulgance…and vice versa.
The chocolate thing always makes me smile. Especially when so many are claiming sugar free eating habits as part of their healthy lifestyle. It’s confectionery. Posh confectionery maybe with varying degrees of poshness…but still confectionery. And there’s nothing wrong with that (heck, out of respect for my younger colleagues, I think you should shovel the stuff in like it’s going out of style) … but it’s not a health food.
Edit: I’m currently trying to upload my recent foray into perfecting a recipe for chocolate covered pretzels. Most recent… and best yet…is Ghirardelli dark chocolate with a hint of sea salt, dried cherries and, of course, pretzels (crushed) Even if I were a skeptic, this combo would convince me that the food industry knows its stuff WRT ultra processed food. Just the right amount of fat, salt and sugar (energy, electrolytes and mouth “feel”) to overcome any sensory specific satiety, tap into our primitive hard wiring for survival and make this stuff very more-ish. I wouldn’t give a thank you to any one in isolation.
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Two of mine also. Baker’s Square French Silk Pie is good, but needs to have chocolate whipped cream. Too bad they keep closing restaurants.
One cup (8-9 oz) of sugar coffee about 2pm every day. I use Maxwell House International Coffee Cafe Francais and add more sugar.
My grandmother got me hooked in the mid-60s when she made me something similar. She would heat milk on the stove, put one teaspoon of Sanka in a 12-oz glass, add a teaspoon or two of sugar, then pour the warmed milk into the glass until it was full. Now THERE is a sugar rush, especially in cool/cold weather. But it was summer, so…
