AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File

If you’re standing in line for a Starbucks latte in Sterling, VA today and the person in front of you has got a gun at their hip, don’t worry.

Ed Levine, executive director of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, founder of  Virginia Open Carry, and the man behind one of the websites with the title “I Love Guns and Coffee,” is trying to make February 22 an annual “Gun Owners Support Starbucks Day.” And today is the first-ever.

Starbucks has always maintained that they are simply trying to follow the local laws in the areas where their cafes operate. So if they’re located in an open carry state, you’re not asked to leave. In that sense, gun supporters have embraced Starbucks though the company, according to The Washington Post, wants to stay “steadfastly neutral.”

There’s a Facebook page for today’s event. One example of a comment: “I plan to be at the Starbucks in the Clocktower Center – 2407 Centerville Rd, Herndon, VA, 20171 starting around noon tomorrow. I’ll be the short blonde lady with the shiny 1911 on her left hip. See you there!”

The question is whether this is going to drive business to these Starbucks away, or drive people away. Do people in search of their morning/afternoon coffee care?

AP Photo/ Evan Vucci

So you thought $5 for a latte was expensive? How about $47.60 for a Quadriginoctuple Frap?

Devour and the filmmaker behind BeauCh call it the most expensive Starbucks drink in the world, but to be fair, it’s a concoction that the video’s narrator created with 40 shots of espresso, strawberries, two bananas, Frappuccino chips, and a bunch of other things that can’t possibly taste good together, all packed into a 50-ounce thermal mug.

A silly waste of money indeed. But if you are a coffee drinker, chances are your morning cup of joe is part of your daily budget. We usually head right to the 7-11 for a large cup ($2 a pop) or to one of the neighborhood spots that will give us a freebie for every 10 cups we buy. More than $13 for a week’s worth of coffee and we feel like we’re going overboard.

What’s your budget for your morning routine?

Image: Press Association via AP Images

Mobile payments are hot in tech right now, and we’ve reached a major milestone in getting consumers to use their phones to pay for items in real life. Square, which originally produced a mobile credit card reader and has since launched a mobile payments app for consumers, launched its partnership with Starbucks that was announced back in August.

Consumers who have the Square Wallet app on their iPhone or Android device and have it linked to a debit or credit card can simply scan a barcode at 7,000 Starbucks locations nationwide to pay for their purchases. While Starbucks is the largest company partnering with Square Wallet, it is not the only one, and the app allows users to explore nearby merchants who also use the program.

Business Insider has a step-by-step guide to using Square Wallet at Starbucks, and the companies also released a video, embedded here:

Square has done a lot to make it easier for small businesses to accept credit cards and made it more convenient for consumers to pay with their phones. But it is not the only company working to get a foothold in the mobile payments space. PayPal also produces a small credit card reader and has a digital wallet product, plus the brand recognition that Square sometimes lacks outside of tech circles.

Google Wallet is also making waves as it is investigating a physical plastic card that is linked to its mobile app, allowing users to access several accounts with one card. Intuit and eBay, not to mention more traditional credit card companies such as MasterCard and American Express, also have a stake in the game.

One reason mobile payments are so popular now is that they provide small businesses with more ways to accept payments and build loyalty. And while the partnerships with Starbucks and other big guns brings a lot of press and buzz, the impact for small businesses is huge—and is arguably the bigger story.

Have you used Square or other mobile payment apps? Would you like it if your local mom-and-pop shop allowed you to use them?

A tall, skinny Frappuccino with a shot of espresso and light foam is a luxury item most middle-class working folks don’t indulge in on a daily basis, so the fact that the notoriously expensive coffee chain is accepting food stamps in some of its outlets has more than a few people upset.

A Fox News 12 investigation revealed that food stamps could be used to buy a $5.25 tall Frappaccino and a slice of pumpkin bread from a branch of Starbucks in Salem, OR, and taxpayers are outraged at the “misuse” of their money which is intended to buy necessities like bread and milk, not fancy morning beverages.

A spokesperson for the Safeway store where the foot stamps were accepted in Starbucks, told Fox the store made the change as an added convenience to customers.

According to guidelines from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), food stamps cannot be used to buy hot foods or foods that will be eaten in the store. A spokesperson for the State Department of Human Services said they weren’t aware of the loophole in the program and they would contact the grocery stores to get more information and make sure they are operating within the SNAP guidelines. If they are, I guess it’s a #win for Oregon Trail users in the city.

Do you care if food stamps are used to buy Frappuccinos or does SNAP need to shut this down?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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OFN president and ceo Mark Pinsky said, “We are thrilled to partner with Starbucks on this innovative and high impact solution to help put America back to work. For more than two decades, OFN’s network of premier CDFIs has financed community businesses, delivering both sound financial returns and real changes for people and communities. Create Jobs for USA will unlock the power of CDFIs to finance community businesses and create new jobs and help grow our economy.”

Every $5 donation will result in $35 in financing to support community businesses. The CDFI community lenders will issue $30 in financing, on average, for each $5 donation through their respective financing sources. Based on conservative forecasting models developed by OFN with input from independent economists, one new job will be created or retained for approximately every $21,000 in loans – or approximately every $3,000 in donations. Since CDFIs in the OFN network have an average 98 percent loan repayment rate, virtually every $1 donated will be re‐loaned indefinitely, compounding the job‐creation impact.

Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi said, “Create Jobs for USA is exactly the kind of innovative and entrepreneurial solution that America needs to get its economy back on the right track. CDFIs are well known to be highly effective at creating local jobs in communities that need them the most, especially when it comes to helping community businesses that are having difficulty securing credit during the current economic climate.”

About Starbucks Coffee Company

Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to ethically sourcing and roasting the highest‐quality Arabica coffee in the world. Today, with stores around the globe, the company is the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Through our unwavering commitment to excellence and our guiding principles, we bring the unique Starbucks Experience to life for every customer through every cup. To share in the experience, please visit us in our stores or online at www.starbucks.com.

About Opportunity Finance Network

Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) is the national network of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)—private financial institutions that are 100 percent dedicated to delivering responsible, affordable lending to help low‐income, low‐wealth, and other disadvantaged people and communities join the economic mainstream. CDFIs in the OFN network serve all 50 states, and OFN Member CDFIs originated more than $23.2 billion in financing in urban, rural, and Native communities through 2009. More information is available at: www.opportunityfinance.net

CONTACT:

Starbucks Coffee Company

Starbucks Media Relations, 206‐318‐7100 press@starbucks.com

Opportunity Finance Network Buchanan Public Relations Anne Buchanan, 610.649.9292 anne@buchananpr.com

Sponsored By:

“Honestly, I wish I could’ve lived in their time. They had so much fun.” – Liya Kebede on the ’90s supermodel era in Vogue

Liya Kebede is an international supermodel who has used her fame to advocate for the vulnerable in societies worldwide. She has been a fiery advocate for children’s rights and empowering women. But in the midst of her serious battles for the betterment of humanity, she remembers the importance of beauty and fun. It can be hard to balance serious aspects of life with pleasure in your personal life, but Liya shows that you can and should do both. So no matter how hard you hustle, remember to take the time for levity.

Work hard — put also play hard Madames!

By Charlotte Young

Want to help your neighbor get a job, why don’t you take a trip to your nearest Starbucks? In one of the latest efforts to help with job creation, the coffee lover has a chance to help out by donating $5 in addition to the daily purchase of a cup of coffee. According to the Associate Press, Starbucks will begin collecting donations in an innovative collaboration that could result in real progress.

Starbucks is partnering with the non-profit Opportunity Finance Network to create the “Jobs for USA” program. The non-profit group works with almost 200 community development financial organizations to help provide small business and community development loans.

The donation drive will begin on Nov.1 and the large Seattle-based coffee chain assures that all donations will go directly towards loans for companies and organizations. In exchange for the donation, customers will receive a red, white and blue wristband that reads “Indivisible.”

Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz, says he feels personally responsible in helping to stimulate economic growth. This latest venture is only one of his many efforts to assist in US job creation. Not only is Starbucks hiring 200 people a day, Shultz also sent over 200,000 of his employees a memo in August imploring them to contribute to the economy in any way that they can.

He has also requested his CEO colleagues to end their contributions to political campaigns until political leaders can devise a long-term economic plan. In addition, Shultz has started the website Upwardspiral2011.org, hosted a national telephone forum and bought full page ads in two of the nation’s largest newspapers.

While Starbucks has not estimated how much money it hopes to raise through the program, AP reports that millions of people frequent one of the nearly 7,000 Starbucks stores in the US daily.  Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zani believes that not only is the idea worth the effort, in theory it should have impact.

The Starbucks Foundation will provide $5 million to get the “Jobs for USA” program up and running. Loans from Opportunity Finance Network have assisted organizations from charter schools to grocery stores, all based on their potential to create jobs. Since its creation 27 years ago up to 2009, Opportunity Finance Network has produced almost 300,000 jobs.

by Selam Aster

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz owns one of the greatest success stories in American business, and that is of how Starbucks infused coffee culture into American life. In Carmine Gallo’s latest column for Forbes, he recalls the key lessons he learned from Schultz, who managed to not only make Starbucks a household name but sustain its success in a time of deep recession. While other companies are folding, Starbucks is growing is projecting an increase of 70,000 employees over the next year.

Schultz is known for having brokered success through his renegade mentality which went against popular opinion on how to run his business. Of course, we all know Schultz made the right decisions. Here are three key lessons from the visionary and renegade, as told by Forbes columnist Carmine Gallo.

1. Know what business you’re in

Gallo recalls a two hour interview with Schultz, in which coffee wasn’t mentioned even once. When prodded, Schultz said that Starbucks makes coffee but it was in the business of human connection. Indeed, that’s the idea that the coffee company has been touting since it burst onto the scene. You can often hear Schultz describing Starbucks as the third place between work and home. ”It’s not about the product, it’s about what the product means to the lives of your customers that really matters,” said Gallo.

2. Make an emotional connection with your customers

In 2008, Schultz had taken back the helm as CEO of Starbucks during a period of a business slump. Part of his strategy to get Starbucks back on track was to re-invogarate the experience for consumers. For one, Gallo mentioned that “the way they shipped and stored coffee grounds, the stores had lost the rich coffee aroma that enticed customers as they walked through the door.  During Starbucks’ rapid growth, Schultz noted that the stores had lost its romance. Efficiency gave way to a less rich experience for customers and, in order to restore the brand, Starbucks had to make more expensive decisions, forgoing efficiency for long-term growth.

3. Tell A Brand Story

“Schultz believes that every store should tell a story about coffee and what they believe as an organization,” said Gallo. For Starbucks, the brand is communicated by the coffee, the art on the wall, the cups’ designs, so on and so forth. Consistency is key to strongly communicating what your company stands for and the quality of your brand.

by R. Asmerom

Most people don’t consider McDonald’s when they’re looking for a place to just hang out and grab a bite, but the iconic fast food chain wants to change that. According to USA Today, McDonald’s is planning to revamp 800 locations this year and most of its 14,000 locations by 2015.

Although the fast food chain ranks above no.3 rated Starbucks in sales, it wants to transform itself to become more like Starbucks – a place where people can bring their laptops and chat over snacks and coffee. That would certainly be a welcome change. As we all know, it’s a great place to grab n go, but not a place to dwell. The change may up the ante for the #2 chain in the country and lead it to recoup its place in the top spot. For the first time last year, Subway surpassed McDonald’s in sales.

The introduction of the McCafe line of coffee, lattes and mochas has certainly helped McDonald’s image and earnings since the line was introduced in 2009. The company announced recently that sales were up 6 percent in April due to sales of McDonald’s shakes, coffee drinks and breakfast food.

By J. Smith

It seems as though McDonald’s has closed the coffin on the clown. Ronald McDonald — the chain’s goofy, red-headed mascot of 48 years — has outworn his welcome under the golden arches in a corporate effort to create a more chic and sophisticated image of Mickey D’s. After increased competition from chains like Starbucks, the fast-food giant is more focused on selling profitable coffee drinks and trendy salads than Big Macs and McFlurrys.

The burger company’s subtle yet vast campaign to revamp their image hasn’t stopped with the decreased presence of the infamous clown in advertisements. They are attempting to class up the restaurants that are usually littered with stray balls from the kids play-pit by installing padded seating and offering free wifi to attract a more modern and upscale clientele.

Consumers link the Ronald McDonald character to the old, high-fat foods that are decreasing in popularity among an increasingly health conscious America, the Daily Finance reports. The McCafe coffee products have helped to revive sales, pushing up revenues in six of the last seven quarters, the publication reports. Does this reflect a turning tide in what American consumers demand from their fast food? Are people finally realizing that a change needs to be made to the largely unhealthy American diet? Has Michelle Obama’s healthy eating campaign worked? A study needs to be done on this, stat!

Well, whether McDonald’s wants to be known for cheap late-night food or “high class” coffee, their advertising plan remains the same: Black culture will be exploited either way (see the rapping dollar menu girl and the poetry spitting McCafe guy).
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Read more: Ronald McDonald Put to Pasture as Fast-Food Chain Gentrifies