Words About Things

Starbucks have been forced to recall one of their range of coffee products due to safety fears. Their Starbucks Barista Blade Grinder and Seattle’s Best Coffee Blade Grinder seem to have a tendency to turn on unexpectedly as well as occasionally not turning off. The coffee company have received three reports of customers sustaining lacerations after the grinder turned itself on whilst it was being cleaned. 176 reports of problems with the grinders were received in total.

The company have voluntarily recalled 530,000 grinders that were sold between March 2002 and March 2009. Those who think they may own one of the zombiefied grinders should stop using it immediately and call Starbucks on 866-276-2950 for a free replacement grinder. A list of effected models and other information can be found on the Starbucks site here.

Personally I wouldn’t put my hand inside a grinder that was still plugged in, particularly a blade grinder. That’s about a sensible as cleaning a lawn mower that is plugged in. Having said that questions will be raised about how well Starbucks tested the grinders before putting them on sale. The best way to kill a zombie grinder is a sharp blow to the head (or to unplug it).

Starbucks used to be famed for its ability to constantly be opening new stores even opening them opposite existing stores. Their growth was almost viral and they once boasted of planning to open 40,000 stores. They currently have around 16,120 stores but plans are afoot to close another 300 with the loss of 7000 jobs.

Last year the coffee chain was forced to close 600 under performing stores. It seemed that their usual technique of saturating the market didn’t work so well in the midst of an economic crisis. They have even had to stop brewing decaffeinated coffee in the afternoon. If you aren’t pregnant they I can’t see any reason to drink decaff anyway.

The drop in sales at Starbucks is most likely due to consumers feeling less confident about their financial state. Sales of those coffee mug/flask hybrids have presumably gone up. Maybe Starbucks will concentrate on selling coffee rather than helping formerly credible artists like Bob Dylan and Sonic Youth annoys their fans by selling albums exclusively in their stores.