Cramer is Mad About Money Not Starbucks...

Jim Cramer is the "love him or hate him" host of Mad Money on MSNBC. I like the guy and lately he's expressed some of his own feelings about what's going on at Starbucks. One of his points is that Starbucks has gone from being the Nordstrom of coffee to being the Wal-Mart of java. Another good point he makes is that a proper restructuring of the 'Bucks would have resulted in lower prices preceding a reduction in services and coffee offerings. Instead, we've seen the reverse, which has alienated the company's base customers; the high prices remain in place despite promises to the contrary.

Cramer's third important point is that during this recession... Well, you can read his words below, which were excerpted from an online column he wrote for Main Street:

I'm done with Starbucks, at least for now. That $4.99 triple-venti-cappucino-with-skim-wet that I had the other day will have to be my last one. ... The ultimate arbiter of taste, my friend Danny Moyer, who runs the best restaurant chain in New York, told me that it's not the right moment to flaunt expensive coffee.

Danny's got a good eye for stores and for product so I asked him about Starbucks. I wanted to know if there could be a turn in the fortunes of the company. No, he said. Not any time soon.

This is a moment in time where people want to play it cool. They don't want to be seen as big spenders. The $4.99 Starbucks drink has become our everyday corporate jet!

Beyond that, the service at my Starbucks leaves a lot to be desired. I got served the wrong coffee the other day, without an apology. I waited for what seemed like forever to get a cup...

Now, maybe Starbucks will get its act together. Maybe it will improve hospitality and service sometime soon. But with times this tough... you don't want to show people that your are made of money... and a $4.99 drink at Starbucks now gives that impression.

Starbucks, I'm told, is conscious of the problem and is trying to cut the price. Until they do, however, they're too expensive for someone who wants to be really low key about wealth during this incredibly difficult period.

Next: Ice B. reviews "Hot Burritos: The True Story of the Flying Burrito Brothers."