Coffee giant sheds record label as part of shakeup
Variety Apr 25, 08 8:17 AM CDT
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Starbucks is handing control of its record label to Concord Music Group barely a year after it got into the music business, Variety reports. The move is part of a shakeup as the coffee chain refocuses on its core business to jolt itself out of a slump. Starbucks' label Hear Music released albums by Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, and James Taylor last year.
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Stumbling US economy will water down quarterly profits, '08 forecast
Wall Street Journal Apr 23, 08 7:05 PM CDT
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The slumping US economy means Starbucks' quarterly profits won't meet estimates when figures are released April 30, the coffee giant said today. Analysts expected earnings of 21 cents per share for the quarter ended March 30; Starbucks expects 15 cents, the Wall Street Journal reports. It now predicts yearly sales to be lower than last year's 87 cents per share; Starbucks' January forecast had called for 96-98 cents.
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Execs hope new 'everyday' blend will boost soft sales
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Apr 7, 08 8:59 PM CDT
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Starbucks will pour a new blend for free tomorrow (Tuesday) in an effort to rekindle customer love, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The company is keeping the blend's ingredients—“subtle, rich flavors of cocoa and toasted nuts"—under wraps, and hopes it will boost sales as Starbucks faces fresh competition from Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's, MSNBC reports.
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Damages claimed for mistaken impressions, aggressive toilet seat
Daily Mirror (UK) Mar 23, 08 5:00 AM CDT
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Emotional trauma because she used the men’s restroom? Surfer in pain after losing his wave? The Daily Mirror digs up the silliest lawsuits ever filed: Whale tale: After their 27-year-old son was found dead on the back of an orca, parents sued SeaWorld for depicting killer whales as huggable stuffed animals. My name’s Jackass, too! A man named "Jack Ass" sued MTV for plagiarizing adopted moniker.
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Court says supervisors shouldn't be taking a cut out of tip jar
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Mar 21, 08 7:14 AM CDT
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Starbucks will have to shell out more than $100 million to its baristas in California because they had to share the tip jar with supervisors, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. A judge ruled that the coffee giant violated the state's labor code and ordered it to make amends to 120,000 low-wage workers over the last eight years. It's not clear how much each worker will get or whether the ruling will affect other states.
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UPDATED
Loyalty card, new machines headline plans to jolt coffee giant
Wall Street Journal Mar 19, 08 2:46 PM CDT
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A customer-loyalty card, a new website and upgraded brewing machines highlighted changes in store at Starbucks, the Wall Street Journal reports, with CEO Howard Schultz using today's annual meeting to re-focus the firm on quality of customer experience. The card will offer rewards for regulars at the coffee giant, which aims for a social-networking flavor with its new internet presence.
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Rival coffee chains target customers as Starbucks takes training break
Associated Press Feb 27, 08 8:10 AM CST
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Starbucks customers and competition alike got to know each other yesterday as the java giant closed for a 3-hour training break for all employee, reports the AP. "Free-market economy, baby! You've got to take advantage of what the competition throws at you," said one former Starbucks devotee swilling a competitor's discounted joe.
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Relax: It's just for 3 hours, and Dunkin' Donuts has 99¢ coffee
CNN Feb 26, 08 12:20 PM CST
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Get your afternoon latte early today, because Starbucks—all 7,100 US locations—is closing at 5:30pm for 3 hours of staff training, CNNMoney reports. The company says it hopes baristas will “deepen their passion for coffee” and even “transform the customer experience,” not to speak of turning around a wicked stock slide. Smelling weakness, Dunkin' Donuts is pouncing, offering all its coffee beverages for 99 cents this afternoon.
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New coffee line is risky business for Golden Arches, Tribune says
Chicago Tribune Feb 24, 08 5:58 AM CST
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McDonald’s may have Egg McMuffin on its face if it can't out-grind Starbucks with a new line of premium coffees, the Chicago Tribune reports. The new coffee rollout, threatened by a shaky economy, marks one of the company’s riskiest launches ever, according to analysts. As food and labor costs rise, McDonald’s is asking franchises to invest up to $100,000 per store in java equipment.
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Slumping company looks to both high-end and low-end products
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Feb 15, 08 9:03 AM CST
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Struggling with its first major sales slump, Starbucks hopes to lure back customers with a $2.50 cup of luxury coffee. The company hopes to find a high-end niche among serious coffee aficionados with the new brew, made in an $11,000 gizmo similar to a French press, Bloomberg reports. The company already is experimenting with a $1 cup with free refills.
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Her crime? Sitting with a male colleague at Starbucks
Times (UK) Feb 7, 08 8:25 AM CST
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A 37-year-old American businesswoman says Saudi Arabia's religious police swooped her out of a Riyadh Starbucks and bundled her off to jail, where she was strip searched, humiliated, and bullied into signing confessions, reports the Times of London—all for sharing a table with a male colleague when the Internet in her office went out.
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Fortune Lists the top 100
CNN Feb 3, 08 5:32 AM CST
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Thinking of a career move? Fortune Magazine has released its 100 best employers for 2008 list—and the top 10 are: Google (Mountain View, CA) Quicken Loans (Livonia, MI) Wegmans Food Markets (Rochester, NY) Edward Jones (St. Louis, MO) Genentech (South San Francisco, CA)
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MARKETS
Insurer MBIA says its rating will be just fine
MarketWatch Jan 31, 08 3:32 PM CST
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Markets were up sharply today on calming words from bond insurer MBIA, with the Dow closing at 12,650.36, up 207.53. The company said its triple-A rating was not vulnerable and that it was solvent enough to weather the mortgage crisis, MarketWatch reports. The Nasdaq gained 40.86 to 2,389.86; the S&P 500 moved up 22.74 to 1,378.55.
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Faltering biz drops egg-and-cheese fare to
focus on cuppa Joe
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Jan 31, 08 9:25 AM CST
(Newser)
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The founder and returning head of Starbucks has announced plans to turn the flagging operation around by taking it back to its intimate coffee-house roots, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer . CEO Howard Schultz is ditching the chain's profitable morning sandwich line after listening to advice from baristas who complained that the smell of the food was overpowering the aroma of coffee and detracting from the Starbucks "experience."
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