Gift cards, 8-lb. bag take bite out of Starbucks tab
Like millions of U.S. consumers, Steven B. Eaton has a Starbucks jones.
These days, though, he's making fewer trips to the pricey coffeehouses to get his fix. And when he does pop in to a Starbucks, rather than pulling out cash, the Libertyville dentist is more likely to pay for his fix using one of the many gift cards presented by patients and friends.
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times)
"I have a whole wallet full," said Eaton, who must hang out with a generous crowd.
In May, Starbucks Corp. said rising food and gas prices lead to a 28 percent drop in second-quarter earnings and that sales at its U.S. stores open at least a year had declined.
At Eaton's office, instead of sending an employee out with a 20 to get him coffee, he's paying for an 8-pound bag of Starbucks coffee at the local grocery store to put into a coffeemaker.
"It's a lot less than you'd pay for it by the cup here," he said outside a Chicago Starbucks store.
What are you doing to make ends meet? Write to psmith@suntimes.com.