"There must be a Starbucks around here somewhere..."

Yesterday, in the middle of a swamp, I uttered those fateful words. But it must have been wishful thinking because, close as we were to civilization, we could not have been practically and metaphorically further from Starbucks without leaving the country. In fact, we’d have to go pretty far afield to get further than three day’s travel (our current distance) from a Starbucks since. in addition to over 11.000 US stores (all 50 states plus the District of Columbia), they operate nearly 4,600 international units in locations as far flung as Quatar, Oman and Peru.

Luckily, I had the foresight to stock up on ground coffee at the Starbucks in Palm Beach before we left for the Bahamas (although there are certainly Starbucks stores there), where I purchased ten pounds bag by bag. The baristas were delighted – they told me there were IPODs to be won by the employees at the locations which sold the most ground coffee over the weekend, and their enthusiasm was only slightly dampened when I told them that they should give me a free pound and a free latte as consideration for my contribution to their efforts.

But even my bulk purchases have not been enough to save the company’s stock price in the wake of my departure from Winchester with its two conveniently-located Starbucks units. If you’ve been following the financial press, you know that the analysts blame overexpansion and a loss of corporate focus. But if you want to act on actual forward-looking information, you should time your stock purchases around our expected return in late June. (We’ve checked with the SEC and they’ve confirmed that information on consumer behavior is not considered insider information, so you should be safe. However, please consult your own financial advisor before taking action.)

In the meantime, my little stock of ground coffee has dwindled to less than half a bag, which means that it is time to move on. We’re tracking coffee consumption against weather, winds and tides to choose a prudent departure from southern Georgia to our planned stop in Charleston SC, home to six (yes six!) different Starbucks shops. Count on Starbucks’ stock price to be heading north along with our family sometime very soon.