Starbucks Regions

In a small town, right outside of Chicago, in North West Indiana, Starbucks is taking over...

Portage Indiana...right off highway 94 and the toll way 80/90 a Starbucks coffee shop was installed and over the next few years, became a place of importance among the steel mill workers, the school teachers across the road, and those in desperate need of a coffee fix on their way back from Ohio or Michigan, or where ever their travels have taken them. This Starbucks, on WillowCreek road not only ushered in a new beginning for a border town, but a place for community.

Let's skip to 2007, the beginning of the fall, and the news is announced that yet another Starbucks will be opening off interstate route 6. At first this news is exciting to all of the partners involved, and to many of the people in the town. The store opening date arrives [after being pushed up initially] despite the fact that on route 6, construction isn't finished, and the new shopping mall is devoid of any real stores aside from a Menards [hardware/lumber store]. Many of the partners from the original Starbucks are transferred over, along with their store manager. Quickly however, this new store, in spite of its sprawling decor and elegant design and setup, wasn't generating much business. Partner hours were cut, and panic began to set in. Many of the partners who made the transfer, being with the company for a few years, began experiencing a labor shortage. Hours were slashed across the board. Partners comfortable with 32+ hours a week were give 11 hours, 8 hours, 16 hours, with only the shift supervisors keeping their weekly scheduled hours. Much of this is par for the course, it's what can tend to happen when a new store opens less then 2 miles away from another. This trend of labor shortage began infecting the original Starbucks on Willowcreek as they saw their weekly sales drop drastically.