National press can’t seem to get enough of Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Portland’s scrappy little coffee chain just popped up in the pages of Time magazine in a piece that starts with this question:
Coffee aficionados have been asking the question over and over again: Is Stumptown Coffee Roasters of Portland, Ore. — the most conspicuous exponent of coffee’s “third wave” — the new Starbucks?
Portlanders are already aware of much of the information in the article, but I’m curious how it will be received in places where micro-roasters are just starting to emerge to compete with Starbucks.
Then there’s that nagging question… Is Stumptown the new Starbucks? And if so, what does that mean for the city and one of its most beloved businesses? The discussion starts in the comments, below.
Stumptown: coffee I buy in the store to avoid Stumptown’s horrible “customer service.”
Starbucks: Coffee I buy when I have no other choice and I want the best customer service.*
* I don’t say this lightly. I hate most mega-corps, and find customer service lacking in the vast majority. But when I went to the Starbucks at 5 a.m. this morning downtown on second and Taylor, I was greeted, like I always am, with a smile and fast service. Even Nordstrom’s doesn’t smile at me every time.
I seem to have avoided the entire meme of “Stumptown=shitty service”.
They’re selling you coffee, not sucking your dick. People seem to have ridiculously high expectations of what will happen during a simple economic transaction.
That being said, I still look down on Dwayne for leaving his wife and kids to try and start a coffee empire.
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@Graham, I don’t need Stumptown coffee sellers to suck my dick. I’d be happy if they just didn’t sneer at me when I interrupt their sulking time. I’ll gladly go for a slightly inferior product if the barista doesn’t make me feel like an asshole for ordering a cup of coffee.
I would love to know which Stumptown cafe all the complainers go to. I usually get nothing but good service. Hell, I’ve been comped drinks before, and I don’t even know any of the baristas personally.
I wonder the same thing. I always get good–and usually extremely friendly–service at Stumptown. I’m not a regular nor do I exude “huge tipper,” so I’m pretty sure it’s them, not me. I do smile and say “hello” in a friendly manner, so maybe it’s just that these folks complaining about bad service present with a bad attitude.
If you find you always get bad service, try to put out a bit of what you want to get back. Once you’ve tried that, let us know if it helps.
Coava Coffee…..the guys at Red E Cafe are far friendlier than my neighborhood Stumptown. That said, the Stumptown folks are usually fine. At least they know how to make drinks/steam milk/etc., unlike *bucks employees.
The bad service I got was twice in the downtown stumptown. Two is my limit. Many of my friends have shared common experiences. Stop throwing meme around, the word means something other than what you think it means.
My stumptown badness (multiple times) was at the ace hotel location. Maybe they’ve improved…i haven’t been there in about a year. And I had good service there as well, but those times were far fewer.
I get nice service at The Ace Hotel location and the one on 3rd where the beautiful people work is always staffed with friendly people.
Slow, but friendly.
Or you could come to Coffeehouse Northwest, where all of Stumptown’s coffee is served with warm fuzzies and a blanket! Seriously, we’re super nice. Stumptown sends people to us when they want people to have a proper experience with their coffee.