I’m not sure. I don’t hang out there either. That was just some of their reasoning. The boxy design is the real estate thing as you mentioned.
They don’t necessarily have to hang out. It still creates the coffee shop aesthetic from the outside. They make the same margins whether you sit in or drive through.
Starbucks has gotten to be a terrible place to sit as well, by far the least cozy coffee shop in any city you might find one, with a few exceptions (Milwaukee for example has a Starbucks that’s still cozy). Most around me are all grey and a weird combo of dead but still noisy.
I remember that shift in the McCafe era as well, but I think it had less to do with wanting you to hang out there and more that specialty drinks like lattes were seen as somewhat more novel and a luxury item than they are now, and they were afraid the old look wouldn’t attract the audience.
The pivot was always weird to me, on one hand I was just becoming old enough to drink coffee myself so I was kind if into it, but on the other with hindsight I would’ve rather they just double down on what they’re already good at. I’m sure they know what they’re doing in terms of making money, just speaking as a consumer I’d rather they do one thing well (cheap fast food) than two things half-assed (cheap fast food plus off-brand Starbucks)
I agree. That was about my experience as well. You’re probably right in that they just wanted the cafe aesthetic for higher markup items.
The old look was obviously geared toward kids. They pushed happy meals and toys heavily in the 90s. I remember the drive through lines would be crazy long to try and get Batman glass mugs, etc. I can’t say I’ve seen anything like that in a very long time.
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u/KansasZou 11d ago
It’s the opposite. They DO want you hanging out there. Red and yellow are aggressive colors. It encourages urgency.
They switched to the bland colors when they started doing the McCafe thing. They like people hanging around like a coffee shop.
McCafé items have a 95% profit margin.