The Decline of Peet's

I've been a fan of Peet's Coffee & Tea for a long time. I have friends that swear by their mail order whole bean coffee selection. After a bit of an abscence, I stopped in to the Lincoln Park location (next to the Whole Foods) a few days ago. Imagine my horror when the fresh-faced teenager working the register repeated my order, "One double EXPRESSO to go" and proceeded to inquire, "You want that hot, right?"
I definitely prefer the taste and quality of Peet's coffee over Starbucks but man, at least Starbucks properly trains their employees before turning them loose. I'm just glad this same kid did not actually make my EXPRESSO.

OK, rant off.

I was in a couple of weeks ago and asked for a pound of major and the kid behind the counter had no idea what I was talking about. That's how I've always asked for Major Dickason's Blend with no problem, so I really don't think I was being unreasonably obtuse. If your counter people don't recognize the name of your "most famous" blend, I would say you've got training issues to work out.

To sensitive ears, "expresso" can be grating, and I find that I pretty much have to turn off my correct-pronunciation-sensors when speaking with food service folks. The alternative is to be a complete pain-in-the-ass Professor Higgins prig who corrects mispronunciations of “bruschetta” and “gratin” (not that I’m above that). And really, if they gave the “correct” pronunciation to many customers, it might very well sound awkward, pretentious, and quite possibly incomprehensible.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:To sensitive ears, "expresso" can be grating, and I find that I pretty much have to turn off my correct-pronunciation-sensors when speaking with food service folks. The alternative is to be a complete pain-in-the-ass Professor Higgins prig who corrects mispronunciations of “bruschetta” and “gratin” (not that I’m above that). And really, if they gave the “correct” pronunciation to many customers, it might very well sound awkward, pretentious, and quite possibly incomprehensible.

Hammond

I see your point. However, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the staff to be able to correctly pronounce (and be familiar) with the product they are selling - whether it's espresso, pinot grigio or Porsches. This is especially (expecially? ) important at a specialty retailer like Peet's. Admittedly, I am far less forgiving in this situation than if I had ordered an espresso at the local gas station.

Do yourself a favor. Buy yourself a nice press pot and a home EXPRESSO machine, then get some of the incredibly good mail order coffee produced by Blue Bottle in Oakland, CA.

http://www.bluebottlecoffee.net/

YourPalWill wrote:Do yourself a favor. Buy yourself a nice press pot and a home EXPRESSO machine, then get some of the incredibly good mail order coffee produced by Blue Bottle in Oakland, CA.

http://www.bluebottlecoffee.net/

Thanks for the suggestion - I'll check it out.
I have more home coffee/espresso devices than I care to admit.
They don't help me much when I'm out running errands.
Do you think I can get an espresso maker for my Vespa?

While it may be a bit annoying to hear "expresso," (my dad, despite years of kind correction, insists on using 'x' instead of 's.' My hunch is he is just sticking it to his citified son) my question is whether Peet's product - the oh-so-tasty coffee- has gone down hill. That is when I would really be concerned. One could say inadequate training of staff is a tell-tale sign of a lack of quality control in other areas, but I doubt that is the case. Granted, since we moved from Evanston five years ago, I have only gone to Peet's sporatically, so I am not the best judge of either the competancy of the staff or the quality of the coffee.

That's my two cents.

An interesting fact about Peet's is that the 2 founders of Starbucks ended up selling Starbucks in order to buy Peet's.

Peet's was just a roaster/speciality retailer and they didn't want to get into the foodservice aspect of it. oops

gp60004 wrote:An interesting fact about Peet's is that the 2 founders of Starbucks ended up selling Starbucks in order to buy Peet's.

Peet's was just a roaster/speciality retailer and they didn't want to get into the foodservice aspect of it. oops

I was just telling my wife the same story this morning.
THAT is why I find this experience so troublesome. They've enjoyed the reputation of being a step above Starbucks. To answer the previous question, my double espresso was fine. As I mentioned, another staff member made the drink.

gp60004 wrote:An interesting fact about Peet's is that the 2 founders of Starbucks ended up selling Starbucks in order to buy Peet's.

Peet's was just a roaster/speciality retailer and they didn't want to get into the foodservice aspect of it. oops

On a related note, anyone who has read Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz's book may recall his refusal (at the time) to sell whole bean coffee in grocery stores and to open kiosks in airports because he feared it would dilute the brand.
Ooops.

gp60004 wrote:
"An interesting fact about Peet's is that the 2 founders of Starbucks ended up selling Starbucks in order to buy Peet's.

Peet's was just a roaster/speciality retailer and they didn't want to get into the foodservice aspect of it. oops


On a related note, anyone who has read Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz's book may recall his refusal (at the time) to sell whole bean coffee in grocery stores and to open kiosks in airports because he feared it would dilute the brand.
Ooops. "


Unless he physically drops something, the word "oops" and "Howard Schultz" should never be uttered together.

If you look at the history of that company, it has made the right decisions at the right time. He knows how to run a company.

DML wrote:Unless he physically drops something, the word "oops" and "Howard Schultz" should never be uttered together.

If you look at the history of that company, it has made the right decisions at the right time. He knows how to run a company.

I was actually just trying to be humorous. Next time I'll use some funny props. I'm pretty indifferent about Howard Schultz - or any CEO for that matter.
Unfortunately, large shareholder returns do not equal good coffee - which always tastes burnt to me.
I definitely think we are in the realm of "non-food" discussion at this point.

Johnny,
I agree with that last post. Starbucks is good but not outstanding. It is great as an investment, but not so great to start a morning.

I've shopped at Peet's since about 1979 and worked there for 5 years in the 1980s (when it was still just an SF Bay Area company), including a number of years training employees about the product. I currently shop the Lincoln Park store and have not noticed any general decline of employee training. There has always been, and will always be, variation in the level of competence and expertise amongst the employees but I can say I've never dealt with a rude or indifferent Peet's employee and find all the LP employees very pleasant. Peet's has not been a one store, Alfred Peet managed, operation in years and is now a quite large company. None of us could afford their products if they held new employees out of the stores until they were all perfectly trained and, in any case, mispronunciation of "espresso" is a minor issue of linguistic aesthetic. Peet's should be held to a high standard of service and product excellence but it's also nice to go there and be helped by humans, with personalities, quirks, and yes, occasional linguistic lapses. The cure would be so much worse than the disease! And by the way, Peet's originally did not to sell any espresso drinks-- they were brought in during the brief Starbucks ownership years.

Not to get too far off point [and at the risk of just ranting], but that last post was interesting. The managers really do need to have control and to watch the service. When counter-help does something wrong, I blame management.

In the place that I typically go for coffee, most of the staff are great but there is one person who has an inappropriate attitude. I blame the managers since the attitude is pretty obvious.

I don't get as wound up about the way words are pronounced as how they are said. I am looking for a good cup of coffee and a bit of a smile. Who wants to start the day with crabby counter-staff?

I also used to find it a bit annoying when I would go into a place at the exact same time every day and place the exact same order, but staff were too busy flirting with each other to remember the order and sometimes even to get it right. We are talking about the same order, same time, for months [Caribou Coffee at Madison west of LaSalle -- they had mind-boggling poor service, but good coffee so I tolerated it. The service actually went down hill after a while, so I stopped going.] Most of the staff at my current coffee place remember my order, which is nice. To digress slightl, at a former place [Corner Bakery, Northwestern train station] I would often go in the my wife. When I went in alone, the staff would ask about her. It makes the customer feel welcome and appreciated.

There are a lot of places to get a decent cup of coffee, and customer service and attitude makes a huge difference.

I always have found Peet's employees nice and friendly. Given that I get mostly coffee and the occasional iced latte in the summer, it's not hard to get right However, this is in the Evanston and Lincoln Park (I think LP - the one next to Whole Foods, anyway). We went to the one in Berkeley - isn't that the first one? And the staff were all quite crabby and inattentive. I thought it was funny.

A Cook County man filed a lawsuit Friday against Peet's Coffee & Tea, alleging the chain misrepresented the amount of coffee it serves in French press containers.

Peet's offers two sizes of French press coffee, 12- and 32-ounce, which it calls "press pots." The coffee is served directly in the carafe instead of being poured into a cup.

The lawsuit filed by Robert Garrett in Cook County Circuit Court alleges that the amount of total coffee in the press pots is more than 25 percent less than the advertised volume.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

I guess it depends if they are advertising the size of the pot or the amount of coffee you get?

Just found out that Peet's acquired Intelligentsia a month or so ago. It's not bad coffee (see below) but I always hate to see outsiders taking over local biz. Peet's itself was acquired by some German outfit a while ago.

Peet's house blend is not bad at all. Actually a really good foul weather coffee, the kind you'd want in yer mug when banks of cold fog & drizzle are creeping across from Yerba Buena Island while unseen seagulls cry overhead. Kind of morning when handpicked yirgacheffe just doesn't seem appropriate. The Major is kinda meh though.

Roger Ramjet wrote:Just found out that Peet's acquired Intelligentsia a month or so ago. It's not bad coffee (see below) but I always hate to see outsiders taking over local biz. Peet's itself was acquired by some German outfit a while ago.

Peet's house blend is not bad at all. Actually a really good foul weather coffee, the kind you'd want in yer mug when banks of cold fog & drizzle are creeping across from Yerba Buena Island while unseen seagulls cry overhead. Kind of morning when handpicked yirgacheffe just doesn't seem appropriate. The Major is kinda meh though.

When we don't have coffee roasted I have been fortunate to pick up a quarter pound of whole beans that we were quite pleased by. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the region I would certainly buy from them again.

Roger Ramjet wrote:Just found out that Peet's acquired Intelligentsia a month or so ago. It's not bad coffee (see below) but I always hate to see outsiders taking over local biz.

If they were purchased for the rumored $100 million, it would take someone with far more willpower that I have to say no.

The same company also bought Stumptown.

And the German parent is buying Keurig Green Mountain. All your coffee base are belong to us.