Value Meals At Starbucks?

When it comes to weathering the recession, Starbucks is clearly no Jose Garces. Not only is the company doing away with afternoon decaf, laying off 1,000+ employees, and closing hundreds of branches, they also have to deal with pesky competition from McDonald’s.

Over at MenuPages:Chicago, editor Helen reports that Starbucks is unveiling what basically amounts to a Value Meal for breakfast customers. Details are few, but Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has described the new menu as “several breakfast pairings” at “attractive” prices.

The question is,, will Starbs figure out a way to keep the smell (of what we assume will be breakfast sandwiches) from overpowering each store? This was a problem in the past. More than that, will this be enough to encourage brand loyalty and bring customers back from lower priced chains like McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts?

Starbucks Planning to Offer Value Menu? [MP:Chicago]
Value meal at Starbucks, coming up. But will it tempt enough recession-weary drinkers? [Chicago Tribune]

[Photo: d’n’c/Flickr]

Value Meals At Starbucks?