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National Survey Reveals Single Males and Females Choose Coffeehouses As the Perfect Place for First Dates

Posted on: Thursday, 19 January 2006, 06:00 CST

Online Dating Popularity and Desire for Familiar Location Lead More Than 50 Percent Surveyed to Choose Coffeehouses like Starbucks as Ideal First Date Spot

A first date can be nerve-wracking, but 90 percent of singles feel more relaxed if that initial face-to-face happens in a familiar place, according to a new national survey of dating preferences and trends conducted by StrategyOne. The survey of singles also reveals that the rise in online dating has made safe, comfortable meeting places with easy "outs" more important than ever, especially for women.

"Coffeehouses are familiar places that feel like a home away from home -- as a result, they have become incredibly popular for first meetings. From there, singles can determine if they want to move on to a second date," says dating and relationship expert Logan Levkoff, M.S. "When singles meet someone there, they have the comfort and confidence that comes from being on their own turf, as well as the safety of being in a public place and the freedom to leave whenever they're ready."

Nearly four in ten single Americans (39%) have gone on a date with someone they met online. Singles at Yahoo! Personals also report that a "coffee date" is the best choice for that all-important first meeting because a casual environment helps calm first date jitters.

As online dating enters the mainstream and Valentines Day draws near, Starbucks and Yahoo! Personals have joined forces to help singles take online dating offline with the "Espresso Dating Guide" available online exclusively at http://personals.yahoo.com/espressodating.

The "Espresso Dating Guide" offers expert advice from Levkoff on coffeehouse first-dates, including what to wear, how to make small talk and how to end a bad date gracefully. To get things off to a great start, singles will receive a special gift from Starbucks when they subscribe to Yahoo! Personals, the leaders in making online dating connections that lead to great first dates and more.

Casual Digs, a Comfortable Vibe and an Easy Exit

The survey of more than 300 singles revealed:

-- Singles rate a comfortable atmosphere (85%), a casual setting (78%) and a safe environment (75%) as the most important criteria when selecting a venue for a first date.

-- Many (42%) prefer to keep the encounter brief, and almost one-third (32%) look for a place that makes it easy to end the date quickly.

-- Singles find that coffeehouses meet all these criteria. In fact, more than half (52%) agree that "a coffeehouse like Starbucks" is an ideal meeting location for a first date.

Coffeehouses are a first-date meeting place of choice for thousands of online daters all over the country. Troy and Sandra from San Antonio met on Yahoo! Personals in the fall of 2004. Their first date was a coffee-date in Sandra's neighborhood Starbucks. "We had some coffee and talked and before we knew it, two hours had passed," said Sandra. While they took some time getting there, they say that the next day they "just knew" and were married in April of 2005.

Make A First Date, Great!

No matter how their first dates turn out, singles who get together at Starbucks this winter will find sweet satisfaction in new winter treats.

The brand new Cinnamon Dolce Latte, available in stores now, is a delicious blend of cinnamon, butter and brown sugar flavors, combined with Starbucks signature dense, caramel-sweet espresso and freshly steamed milk and topped with whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon and sugar. The sweet cinnamon flavor is reminiscent of a piping hot cinnamon roll.

Guatemala Casi Cielo(TM) coffee which translates to "almost heaven," is a rich, elegant, yet approachable coffee with a smooth, full-bodied flavor enhanced with floral aromas, a citrus acidity and a sinful, dark cocoa finish. This coffee, previously available only in the finest restaurants, will be available for a limited time.

Reduced Fat Marble Coffee Cake also takes a place on the menu along with Reduced Fat Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake, and Reduced Fat Blueberry Coffee Cake.

For Those Who Are Planning a Valentine's Day Date

Starbucks is a great destination to find a special something for that special someone, like Starbucks Hear Music(TM) Opus Collection's new title, Dean Martin: Amore! The album contains 15 recordings from the 1950s and '60s that capture him at the height of his fame. This new collection is available exclusively at Starbucks Company-operated locations in the U.S. and Canada for $13.95 U.S./$16.95 Canadian.

And, if you want to get your date a wonderful parting gift, a Starbucks Card is a great way to start a long-term romance over coffee.

About the Study

Sponsored by Starbucks Coffee Company (Nasdaq:SBUX), StrategyOne conducted a five-minute online survey among 303 single Americans (including those never married, divorced, separated and widowed) ages 18 years and older. Interviews were conducted from December 5 through December 9, 2005, using the field services of Harris Interactive. The margin of error for the total sample of single Americans is +/- 5.6 percent at the 95 percent level of confidence, which means that in 95 out of 100 times that a sample of this size is drawn, the results would not vary by more than 5.6 percentage points in either direction.

About Starbucks Coffee Company

Starbucks Corporation is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world, with more than 10,500 retail locations in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim. The Company is committed to offering the highest quality coffee and the Starbucks Experience while conducting its business in ways that produce social, environmental and economic benefits for communities in which it does business. In addition to its retail operations, the Company produces and sells bottled Frappuccino(R) coffee drinks, Starbucks DoubleShot(R) espresso drink, and a line of superpremium ice creams through its joint venture partnerships. The Company's brand portfolio provides a wide variety of consumer products -- innovative superpremium Tazo(R) teas and exceptional compact discs from Starbucks Hear Music(TM) enhance the Starbucks Experience through best-of-class products. The Seattle's Best Coffee(R) and Torrefazione Italia(R) coffee brands enable Starbucks to appeal to a broader consumer base by offering an alternative variety of coffee flavor profiles.

About Yahoo! Personals

Yahoo! Personals was first introduced in the U.S. in 1997 and has quickly grown to become one of the leading and most popular online dating services available. The service offers a large, dynamic dating scene where users can search for, meet and communicate with a variety of people. Yahoo! Personals launched in Europe in June 2003 with sites in the United Kingdom and Ireland (http://personals.yahoo.co.uk) and Germany (http://dating.yahoo.de). Additionally, a Personals site launched for Australia and New Zealand at (http://au.personals.yahoo.com/) and for Spanish speaking singles in the U.S. at (http://e1.personals.yahoo.com/).

Source: Business Wire

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