Starbucks is celebrating its 50th birthday this year. Founded in Seattle, Washington, in 1971, the coffee store has grown from a single store selling and roasting whole beans to one of the most iconic brands in the world with over 30.000 locations.
How Starbucks conquered the world “one cup at a time” is a true success story. I am not a big fan of their coffee, but I enjoy the Starbucks experience and love their mug collection… well, I loved it.
Back in 2012, my husband and I were working in the corporate world. Whenever we were traveling to a new town, we visited the local Starbucks and brought home a mug from the Global Icon Series. The beautiful and timeless mugs were an inexpensive way to commemorate travels. Steadily, we were growing our collection until Starbucks made the inexplicable decision to discontinue the series and replace it with a “You are Here” series.
I have no idea if the new design has the same following as the Global Icon Series, but the change put an end to our collection, which sadly ended at an unimpressive number of 11 mugs.
No one disputes that change can be essential to your business’ growth; customers change, technology changes, the world around you changes and you might be left behind if you don’t adapt. But don’t change for the sake of change; there are times when you want to keep the status quo.
Greetings from Silicon Valley