My Starbucks Adventure

I had an appointment today to meet with the Store Manager at the Neutral Bay Starbucks. I had checked it out the day before so I wasn't too worried about taking the trip by myself.

After a $4, 35 minute bus ride to Neutral Bay, I get to the store and meet with the manager. She's awesome, nice, really friendly -- but is overbooked with partners so she helps me find other stores in the area.

Another $3, 10 minute bus ride to the Starbucks near a huge bus station. It's nice, and in a business area so most people are running around wearing suits (which is matching my school uniform). I meet with the manager, he thinks I'm great, is really excited but says that as much as he wants me - he knows another store needs a supervisor even more.

So a 10 minute walk to Martin Place. Near a war memorial, the store is hidden amongst other top brands (Armani is right next door). Martin Place is the central-Australian business area with the Reserve Bank of Australia and Commonwealth Bank on the same street. I love it!

There can be no flashy iconic-green Starbucks signs because it's within distance of the war memorial, so you can only tell the store by the gold writing above the door and the interior decor. Two small levels, I meet the store manager behind the bar. He tells me my search for a store is over and has me fill out an application to just verify my work history. I'm supposed to receive a call sometime this afternoon with my schedule -- I start right away!


After a roughly 40 minute walk back - I got lost and couldn't find the ferries (which is quite silly because they are the huge ships the float pass the Opera House). I take the ferry home which is only a 15 minute ride. So my long bus ride has now been cut down to a walk from my college to the Wharf (15 mins), a ferry to Circular Quay (15 mins) and a walk to the store (20 mins). Woo-Hoo!

***Coming up soon in Sydney is World Youth Day, which is supposed to bring more people to Sydney than the Olympics. At the two Starbucks I spoke with, they were discussing how the stores were going into 9 man deployment and how someone with US experience would be perfect. Oh no!*** (... I'm really excited though!) :)