Is Starbucks hurt by lack of merchandise focus?

Earlier this year John Moore and Paul Williams volleyed back and forth on their blogs about how Starbucks can regain its brand momentum. One of the back-and-forths stated that Starbucks should refocus on coffee-related merchandise only. Reason? Non-coffee merchandise sold so well, Starbucks dialed back the coffee merchandise and started to lose its identify.

... Just because Starbucks can sell Bearista Bears, doesn’t mean the company should. Same goes for Finger Puppets, Books, and Music. There is a cost to everything Starbucks sells. The selling of Bearista Bears and Finger Puppets probably does more damage to the soul of the Starbucks brand more than does selling Books and CDs.

(From Brand Autopsy: Solving Starbucks Problems)

Bearistas are certainly not coffee related items. But as bearista collectors, we doubt we'd agree that they damage the Starbucks brand. For us, they're a part of the Starbucks brand now -- bringing the Starbucks brand (and the Starbucks life) home. What do you think?