CO-HOST | Make Money By Understanding “Premium” Experiences (Starbucks, Sugar, and Pricing Power)

Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: Travis Makes Money
Host: Travis Chappell
Episode Title: CO-HOST | Make Money By Understanding “Premium” Experiences (Starbucks, Sugar, and Pricing Power)
Date: May 14, 2026
Main Theme:
Travis and co-host/producer Eric explore the economic concept of “premium” experiences and pricing power through the lens of Starbucks’ evolving offerings and pricing, reflecting on consumer psychology, product value, and the ways companies leverage experience and perceived luxury—even for everyday products like coffee and acai bowls. The conversation touches on sugar content, consumer behavior, hospitality design, business strategy, and how outrage online doesn’t always match real-world business outcomes.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Starbucks Chai Latte Sugar Revelation (02:17–05:35)

• Eric’s Story: Eric shares that he stopped frequenting Starbucks after discovering how much sugar is in his go-to drink, the chai tea latte. When the recipe changed, he researched the sugar content and was shocked to discover his custom order could contain over 100 grams of sugar.
  • Quote:
    “So the estimated total sugar in this chai was 100 to 110 grams of total sugar. So again, I walked away from Starbucks and threw my drink in the trash because I was like, this might kill me.” (04:30–05:17, Eric)
• Reflection: Both hosts reflect on how easy it is for consumers to overlook what's in their daily treats, leading to unintended health consequences.

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2. The Price and “Experience” at Starbucks (13:22–14:49)

• Brian Niccol’s Comments: The Starbucks CEO (formerly of Chipotle), Brian Niccol, defended rising Starbucks prices, framing a $9 coffee as a "premium experience."
  • Quote:
    “In some cases, you know, a $9 experience does feel like you're splurging. And then what that means is we have to make it worthwhile... because they're saying, like, well, it's less than $10, and I get a really premium experience.” (13:44–14:32, Brian Niccol)
• Hosts' Take: Eric and Travis gently mock the repetition of “premium experience,” questioning whether the experience justifies the price and acknowledging the strategic PR spin involved.

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3. The Reality of the "Premium" Experience (15:15–16:15)

• Design and Atmosphere: Eric argues that Starbucks' “premium experience” doesn’t match up, citing uncomfortable seating, lack of outlets, and design choices that make it less inviting for lingering or working.
  • Quote:
    “That’s how I feel. Like the Starbucks redesigns have been where like I go in there and I'm like, this is designed to make me get out of here.” (15:38–15:53, Eric)
• Comparison to Past Starbucks: The group reminisces about when Starbucks felt more like a public work/café “third space.”

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4. Business Models and Hospitality Strategy (16:25–23:35)

• Starbucks vs. Everbowl: Travis contrasts Starbucks’ evolving strategy with his own Everbowl location, explaining how costs and consumer habits influence how much space to provide.
  • Quote:
    “For our store in particular, we just were like, we want to just save on costs and focus on the product rather than turning this into... Starbucks Internet cafe experience.” (20:29–21:06, Travis)
• Seating Paradox: Both discuss the oddity that customers don’t want venues to be empty or overly crowded and how line management (e.g., with ropes at popular burger spots) can create the perception of demand.
  • Quote:
    “They did a good job at like sort of creating that sense of urgency to be like, well, you better go get in line before it gets bigger.” (22:24–22:32, Travis)

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5. Psychology of Pricing Power (16:55–17:53, 24:19–25:24)

• If They’ll Pay, Charge It: Travis explains that companies like Starbucks use extensive sales data when raising prices. As long as enough customers keep coming, premium pricing is justified, especially when costs (labor, goods) rise.
  • Quote:
    “If people will pay it, then charge it. And for a company like Starbucks, they have no shortage of data... If they're not seeing a drop in sales, then why would they lower the prices of their premium drinks?” (16:55–17:22, Travis)

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6. Outrage vs. Reality—What the Numbers Say (24:52–25:24)

• Online Backlash, Real-World Results: Though social media dubbed Niccol “tone-deaf,” Starbucks' financial results contradict the outrage—revenue and foot traffic are up.

  • Quote (Financial Analyst):
    “According to CNBC, Starbucks posted Q2 earnings with revenue up. Up 9% and foot traffic growing for the second straight quarter... The numbers don't really agree with the outrage.” (24:52–25:13)

• Key Takeaway:

  • Quote:
    “The online rhetoric doesn’t always reflect what the numbers say. So people will bitch and moan about it, but they still go into the store as they still Starbucks.” (25:24–25:36, Travis)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On accidental sugar consumption:
  “I always assumed it was like maybe 15 [grams of sugar]... the estimated total sugar in this chai was 100 to 110 grams.” (04:14–04:30, Eric)

• Mocking corporate PR language:
  “He’s like, you could get a premium experience, or you can get a premium experience. Premium experience.” (14:32–14:40, Eric)

• Real life vs. social media outrage:
  “That's the kind of chart you want to walk into a meeting with... Any questions? Goodbye. I'm going to Chipotle and ask it more.” (25:13–25:20, Eric)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:17: Eric stops going to Starbucks—Chai Latte sugar bomb saga begins
• 04:29: Shocking realization about sugar content in Starbucks drinks
• 13:44: Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol explains "premium experience" pricing
• 15:38: Eric critiques Starbucks' new unwelcoming café layouts
• 16:25: Travis discusses Everbowl’s space and business model decisions
• 22:19: The psychology and optics of line management at popular eateries
• 24:52: Analyst breaks down Starbucks’ strong business figures, despite internet criticism
• 25:36: Hosts reflect on the gap between online outrage and actual business performance

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Tone & Style Highlights

The conversation is casual, humorous, and slightly irreverent, especially when discussing health shocks, PR “premium” buzzwords, and business spin. Eric plays the storyteller and sharp wit, while Travis offers measured perspective and business insight. The technical breakdowns are practical but approachable, and the episode ultimately encourages listeners to see past outrage headlines and evaluate real business fundamentals—while remaining thoughtful about where they spend their money and how they experience “premium” products.

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Summary Takeaway

The episode uses Starbucks as a case study in modern pricing power and the marketing of “everyday luxuries.” Despite social media criticism over rising prices, consumer actions—backed by robust data—often tell a different story. Businesses who understand their core proposition and pricing psychology can weather criticism as long as the perceived value (whether real or carefully packaged as a "premium experience") remains strong for enough customers. And for the consumer—especially those trying to “make more money”—being both strategic and self-aware about small luxuries is the new balance, rather than endless scrimping or shame.

Transcript

[Travis]

You're listening to the Travis Makes Money podcast presented by GoHighLevel.com for a free 30 day trial of the best all in one digital marketing software tool on the planet, just go to gohighlevel.com travis.

What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to the Travis Makes Money podcast, where it's a mission to help you make more money. Today on the show, my producer Eric is in studio. What's up, man?

[Eric]

Hey, what's going on, Travis? I know it's hard to recognize me because I am a skinny king and I have big biceps.

[Travis]

I wonder how long this joke is going to be at the beginning of every episode.

[Eric]

Well, it's funny because, like, immediately when I started my fitness journey, as many of you know, two weeks ago. Why are you laughing? That's two weeks longer than the two weeks before.

[Travis]

That's true.

[Eric]

But anyway, it was crazy because immediately when I started working out, I shredded a ton of weight immediately. So it scared me. In the morning, I went in the bathroom and I couldn't see myself in the mirror and I realized I was standing kind of sideways. And so it was like when you hold a piece of paper in front of you this way and you just see a little sliver.

[Travis]

That happened in two days.

[Eric]

That was crazy. Yeah. And then, and then I was lifting.

[Travis]

Yeah, well, you dropped the water weight.

[Eric]

Yeah, yeah.

[Travis]

Immediately. Yeah.

[Eric]

Which is most of what it was. And then I was lifting pretty heavy, you know, for myself. And then now it just looks like floating arms.

[Travis]

Yeah, yeah.

[Eric]

And then. And I did leg day. Now it's just floating legs and just a snatched waist, thick thighs.

[Travis]

You are in 30 waist now. 29.

[Eric]

No, dude, I'm up there. In real life, I have a big waist, but in this joke,

[Travis]

in real life, might have a big waist.

[Eric]

Might have a big waist. But yeah. So I've been walking a lot. I've been doing minimum 10,000 steps a day, sometimes more sometimes. So that's a minimum means sometimes. So we live on opposite sides of the strip. I think you and I should walk from my house to your house. Or vice versa. How about after this, after this recording, we'll get to my house about 5, 6, 10, 30. But in this heat, we would die.

[Travis]

Yeah.

Well, not really.

[Eric]

We could do it early morning. I think this would be a lot of fun. Or to go at night and do it. I don't want to walk through that path at night, actually. I don't know. Yeah, we're going to figure something out. We're going to walk Five hours. But anyway. You know where I haven't been walking to lately, though?

[Travis]

Where?

[Eric]

Starbucks.

[Travis]

But, like. But this is where you'd go all the time to work.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis]

And. But you have not done that lately.

[Eric]

Yeah. So I haven't worked at all because I don't have a place to work anymore.

[Travis]

Why did you. Why did you stop going to Starbucks?

[Eric]

I stopped going to Starbucks because my favorite drink on their menu was always the chai tea latte. And I don't know if you know this, if you're listening. Starbucks. Presumably you are, because you're hearing me right now. But no. Starbucks changed their chai tea recipe, and it tastes really weird, and I don't like it, but I got it one day. So the worker didn't know they changed the recipe because they just got a new box in. So the first time I found out, you know me, I'm not confrontational, but they gave me the drink. It was a girl that never makes my drinks. And so I was like, oh, this tastes kind of milky. That's what I said.

[Travis]

You figured it was user error.

[Eric]

Yeah. So I went back to her, I said, hey, it's a little milky. And then the guy that usually makes my drinks was like, oh, I'll remake it for you. And then he remade it. It tasted exactly the same. But I wasn't gonna confront again, so I just said, oh, yeah, guys, you figured it out. Thanks. And then I walked out, threw it in a trash can, and left. And then I came back again. And she said, hey, it wasn't my fault they changed the recipe. And so I said, well, can you make it in a way where it tastes similar? And she did something. It tasted great. Then I came back the next week, and they had to refigure out. They're pouring stuff in, getting it. And so the one manager said, hey, I'll write down what's in it. And then that way you can order it like this. So she hands me the drink. I take a sip. You know when you taste something really sweet and you get a little bit of a headache immediately? So I got that one.

[Travis]

Makes your teeth hurt.

[Eric]

Yeah. But it also tasted good, of course. And so I got the ingredient list, and I immediately went to perplexity. This is what they gave me. So they gave me a venti chai tea latte with nine pumps of chai. They're whatever mixes four classic and cinnamon powder on top. Okay, I didn't know. You know, I'm ignorant. I don't know what that is. So then I see a venti 20 ounce hot chai tea latte at Starbucks just by itself is 52 to 53 grams of sugar. I did not know that for years. I've never known that. I always assumed it was like maybe 15.

[Travis]

Yo, it's like one of those things because it doesn't sound. It's not like you're getting like an iced caramel macchiato with extra caramel type of things.

[Eric]

No, mix tea. Like they mix some tea and a little milk and that's it.

[Travis]

That's what you think anyway.

[Eric]

When you're in India, that's what it is. And then that's when it's made standard. Okay? So already I'm like, God, I have diabetes. Because I've been going and getting this a lot. They gave me a custom order. So I have the base chai tea latte, which is roughly 53 grams of sugar. Each pump of chai syrup adds 7 to 8 grams of sugar. Nine pumps instead of the additional five. That's four extra pumps. Thanks for the math perplexity. That's 28 to 32 grams more sugar than normal. Then they gave me four pumps of classic syrup, which is 20 grams of sugar. So the estimated total sugar in this chai was 100 to 110 grams of total sugar. So again, I walked away from Starbucks and threw my drink in the trash because I was like, this might kill me. And I literally. That was in March or February, and I haven't been back to Starbucks since.

[Travis]

Yeah, because you're not a coffee guy.

[Eric]

I'm not a big guy. I mean, the only coffee I go crazy for is McDonald's sugar free vanilla latte. Honestly, anytime anywhere has figured out the sugar free version of something. It's pretty easy to get me. But the sugar free vanilla latte iced at McDonald's is maybe the best coffee.

[Travis]

I disagree.

[Eric]

Have you ever tried it?

[Travis]

Well, no, actually, so.

[Eric]

Oh, I. Oh, I disagree. That's the problem with America these days.

[Travis]

You said it's the best coffee ever.

[Eric]

It's the best. Like if you had a sugar free vanilla coffee right now, you'd be like, there's no. Every time we get it, you know how you know it's good every time we get it? Tara goes, are you sure this is the sugar free? That's a good sign.

[Travis]

That is a good sign.

[Eric]

And it's good. And you know what I also like, too, is that I like the bitter taste coming through. Like the coffee taste.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Eric]

And it has that bitterness to it.

[Travis]

That was. That's My potential argument is like, I drink coffee because I like the bitterness.

[Eric]

You would like this.

[Travis]

Okay?

[Eric]

If you want like a. You would stay. Wouldn't replace that. Just pure black cup of coffee. But my golly, if you.

[Travis]

The other day, for some reason I was just craving a Gatorade after a hard workout. I was playing basketball. Like anytime I'm like, have a really hard cardio workout.

[Eric]

You know, they call it. You know why they call it pickup basketball, Travis? Because every time you play, they gotta.

[Travis]

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[Travis]

up off the core. Which is actually partially true.

[Eric]

Yeah, I know. That's why I came up.

[Travis]

It doesn't kill me anymore. But when I was growing up, I would always play basketball and then I would go drink Gatorade. So sometimes after playing or doing like heavy cardio, I'll get a craving for some. For some Gatorade. I'll say, I haven't got a Gatorade in a while. So I go and I go to like the shelf with all the zero sugar, you know, Gatorades. And I picked up two or three of. And I get home, I open one up, start drinking. And I was like, man, this is so good. It's so refreshing. It's like, it's crazy. These are zero sugar. And like, glanced down at the label and I was like, oh, this is just the regular one. No. No wonder this tasted so delicious because it has like 48 grams of sugar in it.

[Eric]

It's crazy. I will say I did find a kind of like, prime knockoff called Recover at Whole Foods. And it's like, it's like a prime. They even have like the pop. My favorite flavor of prime, the. That pop.

[Travis]

Oh, yeah, like the. The rocket.

[Eric]

The bomb pop. Yeah. And it's really good. And it's only like 10. 10 calories.

[Travis]

Yeah, you gotta. Gotta get some electrolytes in there.

[Eric]

So. Especially today. Cause it's so hot. I should have brought it with me. So anyway, I talk about Starbucks because the CEO of Starbucks is under fire. Not in the same way like the insurance CEOs. Anyway. Is that too dark a segue? Ah, you know.

[Travis]

Cause he got shot.

[Eric]

Okay, so. Okay, so. Yes, that was the implication. It's not as funny when you say it like that. So you might recognize the current CEO of Chipotle. I ruined. I gave it away. This is Starbucks. You might recognize the current CEO of Starbucks because he came under fire previously when he was the CEO of Chipotle. And he said this, you know, real

[Travis]

quick before we pull that.

[Eric]

Do you remember this?

[Travis]

No, I was just saying somebody was telling me recently about the, like, executives in corporate America that it like, the only place where you can fail up.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis]

Or it's just like, wait a second. Weren't you the same guy that was like, everybody's getting mad at over here, but you just go and be a CEO somewhere else. Like, it's one of those just weird places.

[Eric]

So a couple. A couple of years ago, the CEO of Chipotle said this, and people were not happy.

[Brian Niccol]

I can tell you, the portions have not gotten smaller. One of the things I think it's great about Chipotle is if you come into the restaurant and you want a little more rice or you want a little more pico, all you got to do is kind of like. And usually our guys and women give them a little more scoop. You know, we always want to give people big portions that get them excited about the food. It's kind of who we are. I mean, these are big burritos, these are big bowls. Our goal is to give people great experiences. Now, if you want double the amount of meat, you got to pay for it.

[Eric]

But, yeah, you know, therein lies the rub, my friend. Yeah, that's the worst thing is when you're getting a steak burrito and they're skimping the steak and you're like, can I get a little more steak? And you're like, oh, double steak. You're like, no, an appropriate amount of

[Travis]

steak for this will suffice.

[Eric]

So, yeah, so that's where you will recognize from. His name is Brian Nicol. So that was Chipotle. Everybody was like, really? The company policy is I have to go and kind of shrug. And the worker knows what I mean. So I'll leave this on the table because the new CEO of Chipotle just did the same thing, and now he's under fire. But we'll just go ahead and skip to Brian Nichol. Tackling Starbucks. So, as you know, Travis, Starbucks is a expensive place to go to to get coffee. It's mildly more expensive than making coffee at home.

[Travis]

Mildly.

[Eric]

Yeah. See, I was making a. That was a sarcastic remark.

[Travis]

I see.

[Eric]

But he just said this about the price of Starbucks coffee. And he says the range of prices. He says, our coffee's three bucks. But he said once you start adding all the mixtures and stuff, it can be up to nine bucks. And this is what he had to say about it when he was talking to the Wall Street Journal.

[Brian Niccol]

In some cases, you know, a $9 experience does feel like you're splurging. And then what that means is we have to make it worthwhile. Right.

[Travis]

We've heard so much this year about the K shaped economy fortunes for some Americans very different than for others.

[Eric]

Is that not really something that's coming up in your sales?

[Brian Niccol]

You know, we're not seeing that in our business. What we're seeing is people, you know, they want to have a special experience. And regardless of what your income level is, in some cases, you know, a $9 experience does feel like you're splurging. And then what that means is we have to make it worthwhile. Right. And in other cases, people believe, well, this is a really affordable premium experience. Because they're saying, like, well, it's less than $10, and I get a really premium experience. So regardless of where you're stationed in

[Eric]

the PR team was like, say, premium experience.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Eric]

He's like, you could get a premium experience, or you can get a premium experience. Premium experience.

[Travis]

But at the end of the day, you just get a premium experience.

[Eric]

Yeah, it's premium as an experience.

[Brian Niccol]

You're stationed in those income cohorts. We want to make that experience worth your while.

[Travis]

And premium.

[Brian Niccol]

What we know is what's definitely something that drives that value is to be able to have a great seat, have a great moment of connection with a barista.

[Eric]

So. So I watched that clip and I was like, that's interesting, because I was trying to go. The reasons I've drifted away from Starbucks is because, one, it's expensive for what it is. And then you're also getting 100 grams of sugar. That was probably the key one.

[Travis]

That was the main one.

[Eric]

But then also, I don't know if you feel like, do you work in a lot of coffee shops ever now or not really.

[Travis]

Every once in a while.

[Eric]

Sometimes I feel like more over cigars, to be honest. Dude, that's so much better. It is coffee, and a cigar is Goaded. That's actually, I did drink a lot of coffee last year because I would do a cigar in the morning with some McDonald's sugar free vanilla coffee. Oh, man.

[Travis]

Caffeine, nicotine.

[Eric]

It's very good. But one of the things that I will say is like, you know when you go to a park and they clearly design the benches to keep homeless people from being on them. Yeah, that's how I feel. Like the Starbucks redesigns have been where like I go in there and I'm like, this is designed to make me get out of here.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Eric]

You know, like, it's like the really thin benches and they don't have outlets and they don't have all this stuff. And then like, he positions as like, oh, it's this experience. I'm like, what's the experience? I just feel like it's gotten worse. Starbucks used to be goaded to work in.

[Travis]

The emphasis seems to be more on aesthetic appeal than it is comfort. Yeah, it's like, it might look cool, but that is wildly uncomfortable.

[Eric]

So I guess when it comes to things like coffee. So you're in a, you have an ever bowl store, so you're doing like kind of quick qsr, right?

[Travis]

Quick service restaurant.

[Eric]

Yes. I should have been confident it's a quick service restaurant. It's a similar type of thing. I mean, what do you think about when people take something that's like a product that has a very kind of definitive ceiling on what you can price it at and then try to explain away like, let's go ridiculously high on pricing and just label it like this experience, this premium experience. Does that, does that feel tone deaf to you? Does it feel like if people pay it, charge it, like, what do you think when you hear clips like this?

[Travis]

Yeah, there's definitely a measure of if people will pay it, then charge it. And for a company like Starbucks, they have no shortage of data. They're making these decisions based off of data. So if they're not seeing a drop in sales, then why would they lower the prices of their premium drinks? And the cost of goods only gets higher, and the cost of labor only gets higher. And those are the two main costs in any food business and any business really. But food business especially, it's cost of goods sold and labor expenses. So if labor's increasing and cost of goods are increasing, then price is also going to increase along with that. The, the, the difference is like you, you have to then rely on the experience more than other things, which means your training has to be better or your Spaces need to be set up in a way that feels more welcoming for people to stay and work there. Because it, like, for a while, it was almost like Starbucks replaced the Internet cafe kind. They basically popularized it.

[Eric]

It was at a point, there was a moment years ago where like, I didn't understand the value of wework. Seems like a lot of people didn't.

[Travis]

Yeah, true.

[Eric]

Anyway, I didn't understand the value of wework. Cause I was like, the perfect coworking space is free. Or at least the char the cost of a coffee at Starbucks and you can sit there for hours. Like the craziest thing to me, I don't know if you've ever seen this is when people bring a desktop computer. Have you ever seen that?

[Travis]

A desktop.

[Eric]

Yes.

[Travis]

No.

[Eric]

I've seen people where they bring in like a monitor and a desktop computer and plug it in.

[Travis]

That's pretty wild.

[Eric]

That's why Starbucks crackdown. I'll also say this. So I was a known abuser of. Let me finish this sentence quick. I was a known abuser of the Panera. I was a known abuser of the Panera sip club. I've used. I don't know. Can they come after me for this?

[Travis]

I don't think so, Eric. I think you're probably.

[Eric]

I used multiple emails to do free trials of the sip club many times. But I would sit in Panera and I would drink my soda or my rip. The energy lemonades that they had. But there was a guy there at the Panera near me, and he would bring a little TV monitor and his PS5 and he would plug it in and he would play it on the table of Panera.

[Travis]

Crazy.

[Eric]

And I was like, do you not have Internet? Is it like a weird Stream thing? But anyway, what is the purpose of this? It was very odd.

[Travis]

Yeah. I think you just have to get clear around what is your core value proposition to your customer base. Because, like. Cause at our Everbowl store, like, we intentionally got a small amount of square footage because we know that majority of people are going to walk in, grab it and take off.

[Eric]

That's. That's crazy to me with. Because I was thinking about your story the other day and it seemed. It seemed to me like it would be a place that would draw people to sit and eat it because it melts. So I always thought of as like a Ben and Jerry's type situation.

[Travis]

Yeah, well, I guess it would be similar to that. But you know, there's not a ton of people who sit and eat their whole ice cream at Ben And Jerry's. I. At least, I don't think anyway. And then it's also. The business model is, like, Every additional foot of space that you pick up is additional hard costs on the business, which we were trying to overcome rather quickly when we got into the store. So we were just like, what is the minimum amount of square feet that we need in order to be able to make this model work? Because my initial thought was, like, let's get a bigger space and allow people to sit and hang out and whatever. But then we found that for the majority of those stores and those locations, which is one of the benefits of being a franchisee is that they have the models and they can kind of give you advice on what you should be looking for, because there's another one across town that has much more space to hang out, but, like, there's not a lot of people that are in there. So then you deal with the idea of, like, oh, now we have too much space. And it implies that people don't want to be here when there's a lot of empty seats and you don't have a long line and things like that. So for. For us, for our store in particular, we just were like, we want to. We want to just save on costs and focus on the product rather than turning this into. Yeah, that, like, Starbucks Internet cafe experience.

[Eric]

It is a weird thing when you're, like, when you are a customer and you visit somewhere and you don't want it to be packed, but you don't want to be empty. Yeah, you need, like, the perfect amount of people to, like, prove, like, it's okay.

[Travis]

Well, that burger place, With Love Always, have you been there? So it started by this guy Drew. I want to say it's his concept as well, but he's a Vegas foodie influencer. Did that for a long time, and then started a. An ice cream shop called Sorry, Not Sorry, and then started this burger, the Smash Burger place called With Love Always. And they opened up a new one right across the street from us in the. In the bend. And every time you go there, there's a line out the door, which is fantastic for them, not so much for people like us who don't like waiting in lines. But what's interesting, though, is when you walk by it, you can see that there's a good amount of space, like, in the. The restaurant itself, but they have, like, a little. You know, those little, like, bastions they set up to. With the. With the cord that you can pull to show, like, this is where the line's supposed to be. They have that, like right inside the door. So they can only fit like four people in line until almost like generate a line.

[Eric]

Yeah, yeah.

[Travis]

So they are very much aware of the idea that, like, ooh, what's that line there for?

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis]

And they leverage that to its full capacity and have the majority of their line outside. So when you. When we saw like eight people standing in line outside, I was like, oh my gosh, that place is packed. And you're like, oh, there's like 12 people in line total. Which is still a good line for a restaurant like that. But they did a good job at like sort of creating that sense of urgency to be like, well, you better go get in line before it gets bigger. You know what I mean? Like, you gotta make sure that people want to continue coming here. But as a business owner, you know, that's just one of those expenses that can easily creep up, especially if you've never done it before and you don't know what you're doing your lease on. Like, especially. Especially for food.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis]

It's like, man, you gotta be doing. You gotta be doing pretty significant revenue to make sure that you're. Your revenue can cover the cost of your lease in addition to your cost of goods and your insurance and your other hard monthly expenses, plus your labor. You know what I mean? There's a lot of factors that go into that. So for us in particular, it was like, we would like, do this in the least amount of space possible. But for a Starbucks, though, if that is, like, if you're going to charge those premium prices for that thing and then claim that it's because of the experience, then you have to set up your restaurants in a way that actually draws people in for that experience.

[Eric]

You better have ports ready for people's PS5s. Brian Niccol joined Starbucks in 2024 and he started his back to Starbucks strategy to get people back in the doors. People are. Obviously there's a lot of buzz online. If you look online, everyone's mad at Starbucks. And Brian Nichols, his comments are a little silly. Premium experience, all that sort of stuff. What do you think has happened with Starbucks numbers over the last year going into Q1 of 2026? Do you mistake from them is like plummeting them into just despair and disrepair, or do you think it's rocketing them into great sales and growth?

[Travis]

I would say that it's helping them. I would say that they've grown.

[Eric]

Why?

[Travis]

Just my gut feeling.

[Eric]

Oh, okay. So there's a fellow who did a video on this. And I can show you the chart from Starbucks, too. But here's what the numbers are saying.

[Financial Analyst/Reporter]

Believe.

[Brian Niccol]

Well, this is a really affordable premium experience. Because they're saying, like, well, it's less than $10, and I get a really premium experience.

[Financial Analyst/Reporter]

The Internet did not receive this well. Within days, he was trending as out of touch and tone deaf.

[Eric]

That guy is a millennial. That is a millennial, man. All right, here we go.

[Financial Analyst/Reporter]

Here's where it gets complicated. The numbers don't really agree with the outrage. According to CNBC, Starbucks posted Q2 earnings with revenue up. Up 9% in foot traffic, growing for the second straight quarter. For context, the last video we did on nickel covered five straight quarters of declining sales. This is a different story. Critics say reframing $9 as an affordable luxury is.

[Eric]

We don't need to hear what they. We already get on that part. But, yeah, look at Starbucks, man. That's a. That's the kind of chart you want to walk into a meeting with.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Eric]

All right. Any questions? Goodbye. I'm going to Chipotle and ask it more.

[Travis]

Yeah, that. That. The online rhetoric doesn't always reflect what the numbers say. So people will bitch and moan about it, but they still go into the store as they still Starbucks.

[Eric]

Yeah. Well, Travis, I have an idea. So I do think we should walk from your house to mine or my house to yours. I think that would be fun just to do one day. But before we start the walk, we have to get that chai. That's 100 grams of sugar, chug it, and then do the washing and see if we die.

[Travis]

It sounds terrible.

[Eric]

All right. Anyway.

[Travis]

Well, someone could be so upset.

[Eric]

Well, you know what doesn't sound terrible? Ending this episode. So go ahead and close this out.

[Travis]

Well, that's it for this episode of the show. Remember, money only solves your money problems, but it's easy to solve the rest of your problems when you got some money in the bank. So let's start there, here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Catch you guys next time. Peace.