David Galbraith, former architect at Foster and Partners, co-founder of Yelp, and man of great insight, weighs in today on the closing of 600 Manhattan Starbucks’.

Yes, ditching a five dollar cup of coffee during a recession is a no-brainer. But the heart of his analysis suggests that Starbucks had to close because - as a brand - it has lost its way. This is not a coffee shop, this is a fast food chain selling coffee drinks with as many calories as a BigMac and fries.

credits: Rooona

"coffee"

a milkshake a morning

For a long time, Starbucks has effectively been a store selling coffee flavored deserts. A Venti Chocolate Malt Frappuccino with whipped cream, at 760 calories is equivalent to a BigMac AND Fries.

By combining fat, sugar and caffeine into a beverage that is part of the cultural ritual of an American morning, they had merged the cravings satisfied by both fast food and soda into a liquid package that therefore seemingly didn’t count as calories, and created a business that would naturally become most profitable as fast food in disguise, due to customer demand rather than corporate conspiracy.

You can read the rest of his take on the matter, and the Tribune article that inspired him, over on David Galbraith’s blog.