As I was taking a break from my work and perusing Twitter, I came across a tweet from Scott Bauman: “Starbucks to offer wine and cheese?? http://bit.ly/aKHiD6 Is this the precursor to jumping the shark?”

At first I thought “wow, that’d be a great idea”…as I imagined myself having a glass of cabernet sauvignon while working on a paper or composing a blog post or reading a case. Then Scott, pointed out, “If you really want what Starbucks is “creating,” why not patronize local restaurants, not mega chains?” That got me thinking a bit more.

Is this extension of Starbucks going to harm the brand? Will the loyal coffee consumers and patrons of the comfy couches be dismayed? I like the idea of having the choice of coffee or a glass of wine while doing some work or reading a good book. However, it might be more suitable for a mom n’ pop cafe to offer such in a small neighborhood than the large chain.

As a fellow Starbucks consumer, I am torn about which way they should go with this idea and am definitely interested to see how the Seattle idea turns out.

What do you think this would do for the Starbucks brand? Will this keep you more loyal or turn you towards a different coffee shop?