Nemo's Impact on Starbucks

Well, we have been open for just over six months, and we've finally seen our impact on Starbucks in the headlines. I found this in an Associated Press release today:

"SEATTLE (AP) -- Fewer coffee drinkers have been streaming into Starbucks Corp.'s U.S. stores -- news that overshadowed an otherwise healthy fiscal fourth quarter for the world's largest chain of coffee houses. The 1 percent drop in traffic at stores open at least 13 months marked the first time the company has seen such a decline.

The company released its earnings report after the market closed Thursday. Starbucks shares fell more than 9 percent at the open of trading Friday, or $2.25, to $21.90.

While sticking to its ambitious goal of having 40,000 stores worldwide, Starbucks plans to open 100 fewer U.S. stores in fiscal 2008 than originally forecast, one of several moves aimed at improving operations."

I am fiercely confident that Starbucks decline in domestic customer counts is directly related to the emergence of Nemo's Coffee on the scene in Colorado Springs!
Well, maybe that's a bunch of BS, but I do believe that independent retailers serving higher quality product than Starbucks has is beginning to put a dent in their sales. Starbucks is an amazing company and they will continue to do well, but as coffee consumers branch out and try the higher quality items available at Nemo's and other independents dedicated to quality of product and service, Starbucks is going to lose a small percentage of their customers that want something better...

We also reached another milestone at Nemo's yesterday... We exceeded $80,000 in total sales! Not bad for a brand new independent retailer that has done no advertising what-so-ever!

If you are in the area, stop by the shop tonight. We have a local author on site doing a book signing. She is a Christian author named Lonzie Symonette. She has published several books before, and this one is titled "Real Happiness Is Within Reach." Her previous books are "He Calls Me by the Thunder", "Everyday Soaring Since My Emancipation", "Lonzie's Fried Chicken Volumes 1 thru 7" (collections of Southern poetry and fiction), and "A New Slave Song."

Here is a quick bio from her website:
A Board Certified (APC) hospice and palliative care Chaplain, Reverend Lonzie is trained to journey with those who are facing the impact of life-threatening illness. She respects their "here and now" and offers an active presence according to their belief system. She is also an adjunct instructor at Fuller Colorado Theological Seminary. Her class lectures connect and bridge the gap between grief and loss, death and dying, the importance of sound relationships and an enduring faith especially when approaching the end of life. There are many spiritual issues that arise at the end of life, and Chaplain Lonzie has encountered many "in your face" experiences. "...Chaplain Symonette is one of the Lord's special prophetess...a woman who traffics in an area where the church needs to go. Our preacher tonight...is a trail blazer cutting new paths for the entire church..." states The Right Reverend John Richard Bryant, the l06th Consecrated and Elected Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She is "...a sensitive and serious interpreter of life," said The Right Reverend Vinton Randolph Anderson, 92nd Consecrated and Elected Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Past President World Council of Churches. Welcome into the space of a published author, speaker, teacher, and preacher. One who combines life experiences with love for God and God's people.

"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord..." (Revelation 14:13a NIV)

A thought-provoking, humorous, and a dynamic speaker, her personal testimony entitled Real Happiness Is Within Reach explains how God helps her to cope. With humorous stories from her childhood in Miami, Florida, she highlights the importance of embracing and enjoying real happiness based on applying God's Word to our daily lives.

"Give it up! Your book will never be published," I was told. Even when all the doors had been slammed and pad-locked in my face, I talked to God about it. God said, [I am] "...opening doors no one can lock... I've opened a door before you that no one can slam shut" (Revelation 3:7b-8a Msg).

In 1992 the camera ready lay-out for our first book, A New Slave Song was literarily cut and pasted on my dining-room table. We sold two thousand copies. We remembered the promise from God, "...Behold I have put before you an open door which no one can shut..." (Rev. 3:8 NAS). In 1994, the company's logo of a lock with a key in it was designed and registered. The world's largest publisher of Christian Bibles, Thomas Nelson (Word Press) opened their doors desiring a contract with LMS. After negotiations, the second book He Calls Me by the Thunder, a revision of A New Slave Song was published.
Many asked, "How did you get two books published in two years? In the same breath a second question followed, "will you teach me?" The answers to these questions developed into a self-publishing workshop. Another opened door of opportunity to encourage unpublished authors and to witness of God's goodness. We taught the workshop in the local community center. Soon the workshop became an Adult Continuing Education course on the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (UCCS) campus. LMS wanted an easy to understand, step by step workbook to give to each student. Rewrites and draftings of the workshop materials birthed a third book, You Can Do It Too! LMS taught from the "school of hard knocks", experience. Because of the grueling time requirements of teaching and the available, affordable desk-top publishing programs, we no longer present the workshops.

I went by the shop yesterday after working at Intel to check on an espresso machine leak. I took the panels off and located the leak at the middle group flow meter. The flow meter is a sealed enclosure with an impeller and sensors. I keep a few simple tools at the shop and I was not able to find any of them!! I'm not in the shop that often anymore, and I have no idea where things are. I ran down to Home Depot and bought a tool box and about $175 worth of tools. I can now work on just about anything at the shop and not have to worry about looking for the right tools. Anyway, I tightened the flow meter case screws which decreased the leak rate, but did not fix it completely. Maric Beverage Systems recently serviced that flow meter, so I will have to call them and have them fix it...

Gotta run,
Take care,
JD