As if I didn’t have enough reasons to grumble at the STrib – a reporter doesn’t credit their sources. Coincidentally, on a story covering questionable ethics.
BTW – Ed’s story hit my radar first.
ELSEWHERE:
The Wege hauls everyone back to their own corner:
Reading the Strib’s Business section yesterday, I was reminded of Sesame Street’s “One of these things is not like the other” sketch. Here’s the story, can you guess which one doesn’t belong?
No. 2 player Caribou Coffee Co. Inc., based in Brooklyn Center, announced the unexpected departure of CEO Michael Coles, who spent the past two years overseeing an aggressive expansion that has yet to show results on the bottom line. Caribou is expected to see red ink of $1.01 per share this year and lose 63 cents per share next year.
More worrying, market leader Starbucks disclosed negative same-store traffic later in the week and took down its projections for ’08.
People don’t give up their high-end java for Maxwell House unless they’re feeling light in the wallet.”
That’s right, it’s the last sentence. Aside from free advertising for Kraft Foods there’s no reason to include it. It’s off-topic, uncredited, and simply continues to fan the ‘hell-in-a-handbasket’ attitude.
In addition, if these 5 sentences were actually news reporting, we’d see that Starbucks’ issues have little to do with people buying less coffee and more to do with the over-saturation.
Lastly, even if the dip in bottom-line growth in the Starbucks and Caribou wasn’t due to build-out, “Trading Up” could just as easily explain fewer sales as reaching for the lower quality coffee. Personally, I don’t remember the last time I stepped into a Starbucks, because I’ve found far-tastier and higher-priced coffee at Kopplin’s.
Thank goodness Black Monday is coming, the additional ad flyers should distract me from the paper itself.
I asked twitter about good MN business blogs and Mike Keliher mentioned the new Twin Cities Business Magazine site, while it’s not wholly a blog, there’s an editor’s blog and a very short list of local business blogs, including Graeme Thickins’ blog.
I’m not confident in getting the whole story from a single source, so who else needs to be on the list?
Add links in the comments and I’ll put together an aggregation.
Thanks.
Meeting for coffee at a Dunn Bros. on University this afternoon and just got the call that there’s more than one. We each chose a different one.
Not the first time this has happened this summer (there are also 2 on Washington). They should start putting store numbers on the doors or we should meet at more unique locations – like; Kopplin’s, J & S Bean Factory, 1-on-1, CRC.
Let’s both remember next time. Thanks. 🙂
One of the things I still miss from our time in the Central Street neighborhood in Evanston is the HomeMade Pizza Company take-n-bake pizza. Clean, open storefronts, amazing ingredients. Cooked up in the comfort of your own home.
My favorites are the Spinach Pie and the Savory Pie. Both are so much tastier than Davanni’s par-bake or the nastiness that is Papa Murphy’s.
Jen just called, reporting a citing of a bus ad for HomeMade, and their site confirms locations opening soon at Hwy 7 & Hopins Crossroad in Minnetonka and 830 East Lake in Wayzata.
Sure, it’s not in walking distance from my house (or I would’ve known sooner), but it’s here and will make the occassional trips to those neighborhoods so much better.
So far, I’m thankful I can say the same for friends and family (thanks to Twitter, IM, and mobile phones). I’m also thankful for telecommuting.
– thanks to smithers for the photo
The stretch of Highway 35W bridge I – and many other of my Twin Citizens – take to get around Minneapolis collapsed earlier this evening.
Gone.
Into the river taking 50+ cars, trucks, and a school bus with it.
If you need an idea of where:
Imagine this picture without the big bridge.
I’m pretty torqed @ the mobile phone networks right now. This is when they’re needed the most. And they’re failing.
UPDATE 3 AUG 2007:
With the 35W South onramp @ Stinson/New Brighton Blvd closed and now 280 closed @ Broadway, I went from living in a place with easy access to all major Twin Cities freeways, to being completely isolated. It’ll probably be like this for a couple years. Farg.
I’m anxious to see how NE Mpls culture will change between now and when 35W re-opens. Will the disconnect with downtown make it more NE-y, more suburban, or more North-y?
When Joanne and I set up her weblog, she had a brand new MacBook Pro. No longer.
Joanne, I’m sorry for your loss. I hope it comes to a sastisfactory conclusion.
First off, I commend law enforcement officials for their efforts over the past year to diffuse this movie-plot threat while it was still in the planning stage. This is proof investment in investigation pays off more than in airport screenings.
“Several law enforcement officials said, however, there have been no direct threat[s] to the airport and that the suspects had yet to obtain financing or explosives.”
That quote* – buried on A18 of today’s Sunday Strib – proves the story doesn’t belong on the front page. Especially since – also on A18 – a much shorter story (“A Snag in the Plot…”) confirms:
“…the level of catastrophe that may be created is much more limited that most people would expect..” –
Why?
“…jet fuel doesn’t easily explode.”
At startribune.com, the JFK movie-plot threat is the second headline (and falling) in the second section a couple screenviews down. In terms of priority, importance, and relevance, this is where the story belongs.
The asymmetry between the placement as lead story in the print edition and insignificance placement online betrays the actual news-worthiness of the story (none) and the differences between fishwrap news editors and online news editors (apparently, the easily frightened buy fishwrap while the more thoughtful read online).
Lastly, this is the second time in as many days and with as many newspapers where I’ve struggled to find a print-edition story in on a newspaper’s website. Just as I expect retail stores to have symmetrical catalogs between their online and offline offerings, I expect the same from publishers.
*Oddly, I couldn’t find this quote in the online version.
Jason, You’re not the only one the forgets about the Wilde Roast.
I’ll be biking through NE thinking, “Where can I go for lunch and wifi?….Oh, yeah, there’s the Wilde Roast.”
Good grilled cheese as well.
I bought Tony Thomas from Minneapoliscast, Andrea Meyers from HowWasTheShow.com, and Justin Grammens from LocalTone.com, and Brian McDonough from MinnieIndie.com lunch to talk about the Minneapolis music scene.
We cover the goal of each of their sites, the challenges of finding good independent music, and Brian makes some band recommendations.
Listen to Lunch with Minneapoliscast, How Was The Show, LocalTone, and MinnieIndie.com [35 min].