So Starbucks is sliding to its first quarterly loss, announcing it would close 650 cafes and cut 13,000 jobs. The Financial Times puts it down to the poor US economy with high gas prices and other economic pressures ensuring there are fewer customers seeking out fancy coffee drinks.

I am not entirely sure about that. I think it was more a case that Starbucks over-extended itself. From being a special hangout, it was everywhere and became too common, even ordinary. The Chicago Tribune's Tom Mullaney sums it up nicely:

"Starbucks once defined the coffee market but has lost control of its brand. Its ubiquity has killed the joy of discovering a new hangout. Starbucks is now found in hospitals, nearly every airport and countless corporate cafeterias. These outlets and an army of small restaurants serve starbucks coffee simply to bask in its reflected glory. I've had their brew in all these sites, but it's never as good as in the cafes, reading the paper or catching up on work. The quality can't be controlled in such settings. The result: a watered-down version of what the company touts as the "Starbucks experience."

Therein lies the problem. Once something becomes so common it's seen everywhere, it can't be cool anymore. Call it the law of economic scarcity.