Will the real Starbucks Coffee Shop please stand up!

My daughter was visiting during the Christmas Holidays and during dinner the other night she told me about a recent experience she had at a local coffee shop. As part of a Secret Santa gift exchange at her work, she received a gift card for Starbucks.

My daughter took her gift card down to the local mall in her town to the nationally known bookstore which had a coffee shop inside with a large Starbucks sign overhead. It looked liked a Starbucks, it smelled like a Starbucks, it has all the miscellaneous stuff that Starbuck sells, and the Starbucks logo was all over the place. She went up to the counter, ordered her drink and presented the gift card for payment. This is how she described it.

“I am sorry, but we do not take Starbuck’s gift cards,” said the clerk behind the counter.

“This is Starbucks, right?” asked my daughter.

“Yes and no,” was the reply.

“What?”

“We are a coffee shop selling Starbucks Coffee but we are not at Starbucks Coffee shop.”

“Huh?”

Apparently, this nationally know bookstore has a coffee shop inside many of their stores. This coffee shop sells coffee; Starbucks brand coffee, as well as all the various coffee type drinks that Starbucks is known for. There is even a large Starbucks sign at the entrance and Starbucks logos all over the store. But, this is not a “real” Starbucks.

How is the average person going to know that this is a real Starbucks or not? I have no idea. She later tried another coffee shop inside a local supermarket and that one is a real Starbucks outlet and they gladly accepted the gift card for payment.

The next time I visit a Starbucks store that I have not visited before I will be sure to ask them, “Are you are real Starbucks store?” I bet I will get a few funny looks until I show them my gift card.

Will the real Starbucks please stand up?