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I work at a licensed store in a local grocery chain in Michigan. Our baristas start above minimum at $10 an hour, you make $11 if you’re trainer certified and I make $12 because I’m a trainer and the assistant manager. Our Starbucks is considered a department in the store and my manager is the head of the department and makes more than I do (probably 15-17 an hour but I’m not sure). With tips it’s basically like making your full wage sans taxes taken out. The downfall I would say to working at a licensed store versus corporate is that often times you have a smaller area, we have a kiosk, and can only comfortably fit two people inside. This means that there’s usually only two people working I.E. one person does bar (hot, cold, frappe and oven) and the other does register and drip coffee brewing/pour overs. You have a lot more responsibility and I typically work 5-3 hours alone when I close and you’re alone 2-3 hours if you open. It’s not difficult AT ALL once you are trained properly but it can be quite stressful essentially running a full ‘store’ by yourself or with one other person. My location is typically very slow past 5pm but can be incredibly busy leading up to 5pm. We have lines out the door at least once a week depending on weather and events like holidays, the super bowl was apparently very busy though I wasn’t there so I’m not sure if I would consider it extremely busy. The benefits however are that licensed baristas typically have higher wages and your store is less busy (obviously situationally). I would say that it couldn’t hurt to try out a licensed store, you might enjoy it more and make more money! It is definitely dependent on the company that licenses the Starbucks and the location.