The £50 espresso

In all the recent advice thrown at the (slightly) troubled Starbucks, what worries me most is too much (of the advice) would take the business away from its core which seems to me to be great coffee in great surroundings served by great staff. If any one of these is negelected e.g. some of the early stores in the States now look very tired or some of the staff in Paris, France do tend to neglect preparation (warm those espresso mugs, s'il vous plait!), then business will fall. But to actually get all three factors right consistently is tough but if done is a winner. All else is a distracton.
As is a £50 espresso.