Starbucks' Slowdown

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July 2008
- Drown Money Woes With Cups of Joe
  
  newser | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Jul 10, 08 11:01 AM CDT
  
  While Congress worries about what to do for Americans squeezed by gas prices, Starbucks has its own ideas. To lure back people who are cutting pricey lattes out of the budget, new promotions are being launched around the country, writes the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. More »
- As Starbucks Wanes, Java Fiends Revel in Indie Cafes
  
  newser | Reuters | Jul 6, 08 6:29 PM CDT
  
  As Starbucks' financial troubles percolate, not all java fiends are bemoaning the loss of the chain's talls, grandes, and ventis, reports Reuters. In fact, many are celebrating the java giant's downturn and throwing their support behind small independent cafes. Starbucks is set to close 600 stores and lay off 12,000 employees while local coffee shops are sprouting up nationwide. More »
- Starbucks to Close 600 Stores Across US
  
  newser | Seattle Times | Jul 1, 08 9:08 PM CDT
  
  Starbucks will close hundreds of stores across the US in its newest attempt to boost deflated profits, the Seattle Times reports. In the next nine months, about 600 stores are getting the ax, most of which opened after October 2005. About 12,000 employees will lose their jobs, but the company hopes to absorb some of them into other stores. The coffee chain also plans to open fewer than 200 new stores in the US during the next fiscal year. More »
June 2008
- Starbucks Offers Free Wi-Fi for 2 Hours a Day
  
  newser | USA Today | Jun 3, 08 5:30 PM CDT
  
  Starbucks will offer its customers 2 hours of free Wi-Fi a day starting next week, its latest effort to snap out of a sales slump, USA Today reports. Those eligible need a Starbucks Card and must register online with the company's rewards program. Critics say the move isn’t the severe re-imagining the firm needs, but Starbucks argues the Internet access will pump up the already successful Starbucks Card program More »
May 2008
- Starbucks Banks on New Hardware
  
  newser | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | May 30, 08 4:59 PM CDT
  
  With the grounds of a sour economy sticking between shareholders' teeth, Starbucks is looking to a new espresso machine to perk profits back up, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. "What this machine is about is whether Starbucks can get its virginity back," one observer says of the semi-automatic Mastrena, which brewed its first shot in New York today. How the Mastrena might help: More »
- San Francisco Coffee Scene Heats Up
  
  newser | San Francisco Chronicle | May 16, 08 6:10 PM CDT
  
  Plans for tapping the premium coffee market are percolating in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Chronicle reports in an in-depth look at the new generation of roasters. Emphasizing freshness and preparation, next-gen roasters are building Northwest-inspired businesses that offer patrons ground-to-order $8 cups, or $9-$11 pots prepared by a $20,000 halogen-powered siphon from Japan. More »
- 'Slutbucks'? Coffee Logo Spurs Protest
  
  newser | Mother Jones | May 10, 08 7:29 AM CDT
  
  Starbucks' fiscal woes are well-documented, and, Mother Jones blogger Jen Phillips writes, a boycott by a Christian group could be next, over the reintroduction of its original logo, which features a nearly bare-breasted sea siren. "The Starbucks logo has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute," says Mark Dice, the group's rep. "The company might as well call themselves Slutbucks." More »
April 2008
- Starbucks Quits the Music Biz
  
  newser | Variety | Apr 25, 08 8:17 AM CDT
  
  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. More »
- Starbucks Goes Decaf on Earnings Outlook
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Apr 23, 08 7:05 PM CDT
  
  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. More »
- Starbucks to Pour Freebies
  
  newser | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Apr 7, 08 8:59 PM CDT
  
  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. More »
March 2008
- Starbucks Balks at Paying Back Barista Tips
  
  newser | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Mar 28, 08 9:41 AM CDT
  
  Starbucks is defying a California court ruling, arguing a judge has created a tempest in a tip jar, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer . The court ruled the coffee shop must pay nearly $100 million to California baristas forced to share tips with their supervisors. Similar suits have been filed in Minnesota and Massachusetts. Starbucks says it isn’t paying and is seeking an injunction against the ruling. More »
- Starbucks Owes Baristas $100M in Tips
  
  newser | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Mar 21, 08 7:14 AM CDT
  
  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. More »
- Starbucks Rolls Out Customer-Focused Changes
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Mar 19, 08 2:46 PM CDT
  
  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. More »
- Why Fork Over $11,000 for a Coffee Machine?
  
  newser | Slate | Mar 13, 08 7:18 PM CDT
  
  A cup of coffee brewed with 16 ounces of water at 203 degrees for 44 seconds? Coming right up. The brouhaha over the $11,000 Clover 1s—the ultra-high-tech machine that brews one cup at a time—makes sense, Paul Adams writes in Slate. After two hours test-driving the built-to-order machine, which regulates temperature, water, and brew time with staggering precision, he considers himself “a Clover addict.” More »
February 2008
- Rivals Earn as Starbucks Learns
  
  newser | Associated Press | Feb 27, 08 8:10 AM CST
  
  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. More »
- Starbucks to Close 7,100 US Stores Today
  
  newser | CNN | Feb 26, 08 12:20 PM CST
  
  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. More »
- Mickey D's Risks Big in Java War
  
  newser | Chicago Tribune | Feb 24, 08 5:58 AM CST
  
  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. More »
- Starbucks Testing $2.50 Cup of Brew
  
  newser | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Feb 15, 08 9:03 AM CST
  
  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. More »
January 2008
- Starbucks Cuts Stores, Skips Breakfast
  
  newser | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Jan 31, 08 9:25 AM CST
  
  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." More »
- Fired CEO to get cash payout from Starbucks
  
  Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Jan 28, 08
  
  Jim Donald, forced out this month as chief executive of Starbucks Corp., will receive a $1.25 million severance payment. He also agreed not to compete against his former employer for 18 months, according to a securities filing released Monday.