As part of our ongoing evaluation of Starbucks (SBUX) Peter Lynch-style, we venture a look at the West Coast, the cavalry of the country’s coffee drinkers. 

Location:  Sunny San Diego; 10601 Tierrasanta Blvd (about 10 miles from downtown SD)

Time: 7:35 a.m., 4/17/07

While the store was very clean and well-stocked, it had a “Paint by Numbers” feel.  Very little local/community ambiance was added to the mix, which would be easy to do in this San Diego suburb.  While square footage was adequate, most tables were of the small, round variety that could seat no more than two.

Business was still heavy and done at a brisk pace; most customers were commuters and exited quickly after getting their order.  San Diegans tend to get up a little later than the east coast crowd –this location is usually filled with seated customers in the 9-10 a.m. range.

My wait time was 2 minutes, 15 seconds, but I only ordered a regular cup of joe.  While I sat with my order, I counted off 3 or 4 folks who ordered various frappalattecino concoctions, and their wait time averaged 4 minutes, 45 seconds.  It seemed the staff was a bit green overall, and had some minor difficulties with keeping orders straight. 

Overall Ratings (1 to 3, 3 being best)   Wait Time – 2, Cleanliness – 3, Bathrooms – 3, Space – 2, Personnel – 2, Inventory – 3, Ambience – 1.5 (can’t resist splitting the middle here.  While it was by no means terrible, it was also by no means memorable)

If you’d like to catch up on the locations visited in the past three days, you can find them here. 

Ryan Barnes

April 17, 2007

Ryan Barnes can be reached at ryanbarnes@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.