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Singer Carly Simon is suing Starbucks Corp., saying the coffee company's now-defunct music venture didn't adequately promote her 2008 album, dooming the record before it was even released. The singer, whose biggest success came during the 1970s and '80s with hits like "You're So Vain" and "Anticipation," is seeking unspecified damages related to the release of the 14-track "This Kind of Love" in April 2008.

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Starbucks aired the first creative for its Via Ready Brew during the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live" last night. Four 15-second spots from agency BBDO, New York, challenged consumers to a taste test at its cafes this week, to discern the difference between its much-lauded instant product and the Starbucks house brew. The company wouldn't confirm details about the upcoming national advertising campaign for Via, other than the official launch date, this Sept. 29. An executive familiar with the matter cautioned that "SNL" creative may not reflect the look and feel of the upcoming campaign. The...

Here is video of a new Starbucks teaser ad for their "Via" instant coffee product. The ad uses a Town Hall Meeting as the setting and says: "People who yell at town hall meetings can't tell the difference." It then has two people shouting that they can't tell the difference. . . . (VIDEO)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Starbucks unveiled a brand of instant coffee Tuesday that the high-end chain says "will change the way people drink coffee." The Seattle-based company will begin selling a "ready brew" coffee called Via at all of its U.S. locations in a move designed to tap a growing market for instant coffee. "With a $21 billion global instant coffee business, and instant coffee representing 40% of overall global coffee sales, we believe Starbucks is uniquely positioned to capture a significant share of this market," said Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz, in a statement.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The California Supreme Court will not review a appeals court ruling that wiped out an $86 million judgment against coffee giant Starbucks over tip sharing at its stores in the state. . . . In 2008, a San Diego County Superior Court judge ordered Starbucks Corp. to pay millions in restitution to baristas who had to share their tips with supervisors. In June, the 4th District Court of Appeal reversed that ruling,

Coffee chain Starbucks, which for years raised prices without any customer pushback, said on Thursday that it is cutting prices for the first time on some drinks while boosting prices on others. The company, which announced in April that it would join other restaurant operators in fine-tuning pricing amid weak consumer demand, will cut the price of popular beverages like small coffees and lattes by 5 to 10 cents in every market, spokeswoman Valerie O'Neil said. Prices for large, complex drinks such as frappuccinos and macchiatos could go up by as much as 25 cents in some markets, but on...

Starbucks is still losing customers, but not as many as it has for the last two quarters. These days, that qualifies as welcome news. On Tuesday, Starbucks, which is based in Seattle, reported that net income in the third quarter, ended June 28, was $151.5 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $6.7 million and a penny a share in the same period last year. Revenue fell 6.6 percent, to $2.4 billion, from $2.6 billion a year ago. “The transformation of Starbucks business — including the success of our consumer-facing initiatives and the permanent changes...

Recent high school grad charged with bombing Related Topics: Ray Kelly | Starbucks Corporation A teen arrested in the bombing of an upper East Side Starbucks was inspired to plant the explosive device by the movie "Fight Club," cops said today. Kyle Shaw, 17, of Chelsea, was charged with arson, criminal mischief and criminal possession of a weapon for placing the bomb at the E. 92nd St. coffee shop, police said. Shaw was inspired to plant the bomb at the Manhattan eatery by watching the anarchic behavior of Brad Pitt in the film "Fight Club." He picked the site because...

Starbucks Corp. says its dropping its name from one of its stores and adding alcohol to the menu. (Starbucks will still own the store) They plan to open it next week - On the menu: Coffee Tea and..

Starbucks agreed in April to pay a former lead network engineer in Seattle $120,000 plus a mediator's fee to settle a lawsuit that alleges racial discrimination and retaliation "so severe that it required him to take a medical leave of absence." Victor Washington of Shoreline, who is African-American and worked for Starbucks from September 2006 until May 2008, alleges in the July 2008 lawsuit that a white co-worker made racist comments to him such as repeatedly telling him to "fetch" the co-worker's umbrella and tie his shoes for him. In the lawsuit, Washington says he complained to his supervisor and...

In my June 8 article on the grand opening of the Intelligentsia Coffee location in Venice, I mentioned the fact that they use not one, but two Clover machines. This alone is a remarkable feat. The Clover machine is and has been one of the ways boutique coffeehouses differentiated themselves from the big chains. However, last year, Starbucks bought the company that manufactures Clovers. As a result, all future Clovers will be found only at Starbucks locations. Any coffeehouse that already owns a Clover will essentially have to rely on Starbucks for parts and service. Doug Cadmus described this situation...

Bay City, Michigan - In 1994, a jury awarded a New Mexico woman $2.9 million after she was burned by spilled McDonald's coffee. Now a Bay County woman claims she's steamed at Starbucks for the same reason. Irene Bruno alleges she endured severe burns and permanent scars three years ago when a worker at a Midland County Starbucks Coffee outlet improperly secured a lid on a large cup of coffee, causing the hot liquid to spill onto Bruno's lap, inner thighs and legs. Bruno, in a lawsuit filed in May in U.S. District Court, claims the lid on the coffee...

A small improvised explosive device detonated outside an Upper East Side Starbucks early Monday morning, shattering the coffee shop's windows and raising fears of terrorism. The bomb tore a hole in a wooden bench outside the coffee chain's outpost at Third Ave. and E. 92nd St. when it exploded at 3:30 a.m. No one was injured in the blast, but it terrified residents who had been fast asleep early on Memorial Day. "I heard a giant noise -- a big, giant noise, like a crash -- and there was a flash," said Jordan Kovnot, 26, a law student who lives...

The NYPD bomb squad is on the scene of an explosion outside a Starbucks on Manhattan's Upper East Side. There are reports an explosive device was left on a bench outside the coffee shop at 1642 Third Avenue and the corner of 92nd Street.

Who knows what nightmares haunt the makers of a dream brand in trouble? Maybe trouble is too strong a word to describe Starbucks' situation. But the days of easy growth are long past and this icon of Seattle is tarnished by brutal competition, a nose dive in profitability and no clear path to regaining its groove. Maybe the worst nightmare is this: What if Starbucks is an artifact of an economy that's not coming back?...

WARSAW -- After the new Starbucks opened, I walked by the place a couple of times, just to see the crowds. Strategically located midway between the university and the stock exchange, the world's best-known coffee franchise immediately attracted a well-heeled clientele. Lines twisted around inside the shop and out the door. Up and down the street, blue-jeaned students and dark-suited stockbrokers carried their white paper cups with pride, the famous green label facing outward. Yes, Starbucks has come to Warsaw at last. The brand might be out of fashion in the States; the company might be losing money. Its shares...

Starbucks said 2nd-quarter earnings fell 77%....three month net income dropped to $25M from $108.7M last year. Sales fell 7.6% to $2.33B.......Starbucks is fighting the perception espresso-based coffees are a pricey luxury........

Poor Howard Schultz. No matter how hard the Starbucks head tries, he can’t seem to avoid being in the news as he is hated in so many parts of the world. Here in the UK he is hated because it is fashionable to spurn American globalization. I will never forget a “Jews for Justice for Palestinians” activist screaming at me shortly after 9/11, saying “American enterprises clogging the British high street” contributed to the hatred that caused the terror attacks. I reminded her that if KFC, Woolworths, McDonalds, Domino’s, Subway, and Starbucks closed all at once there would be about...

“Show up at a Starbucks on Tax Day at 7:15 AM, 12:15 PM, 5:15 PM, or 8:15 PM , buy a cuppa joe, then share a kiss with your sweetie, or a friend, or even a long-time crush! RAWR!” While Starbucks is doing what it can for America’s nutrition with its new Vivanno drink, and at the same time working for the environment by introducing cups that reduce overall “greenhouse gas emissions,” it is unfortunately about to become a site for major cultural pollution.

Dear (Right to Work Supporter): This week, the CEOs of Costco, Whole Foods, and Starbucks plan to throw you and their employees "under the bus" to appease Big Labor, offering a so-called "compromise version" of Big Labor's top legislative priority: the "Card Check" Forced Unionism Bill. It's vital you act right now to help fight back against their scheme -- which will leave workers vulnerable to union-boss intimidation and make you pay the price in higher costs. With our economy already blasted with recession and nearly constant political agitation, attempts to "compromise" over forced unionism really could push our economy...

Three major retailers on Saturday laid out broad details of an alternative proposal they hope will fend off a deadlock over a hotly contested bill making it easier for workers to unionize. Starbucks Corp., Whole Foods Market Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. are opposed to portions of the labor-friendly Employee Free Choice Act, which would take away the right of employers to demand secret-ballot elections by workers before unions could be formed. Under the legislation, unions could gain representation if a majority of workers sign cards authorizing it. Still, the companies say they recognize that simply opposing the bill might...

Three big retailers are expected to back an alternative proposal next week on a hotly contested bill that would make it easier to unionize workplaces, a move some experts said would bolster the legislation's chance of passage. Costco Wholesale Corp., Starbucks Corp. and Whole Foods Market Inc. are supporting the alternative proposal, according to someone familiar with the effort. Ray Krupin, a management labor lawyer in Washington said the most likely compromise would allow employees to unionize if 70% of them sign union-authorization cards, as opposed to 50% as currently proposed in the Employee Free Choice Act.

As much as many of you may be absolutely addicted to that cup-o-joe in the mornings, on April 15, I would strongly advise you not to take your kids in or near a Starbucks. Otherwise you might be stuck explaining a few things that you probably believe they are not yet ready to be confronted with. Because I refuse to give the group doing this exercise any traffic I'll simply show you what's on the page:

EXCERPT: Starbucks has been finally outted for it’s devious, long-term secret plan of contaminating the hands of muslims worldwide, and particularly offensively, right on Islamic soil, with Jewish cooties. Egyptian cleric Safwat Higazi is the genius who apparently has just discovered that the Starbucks logo shows non other than the Jewish Queen Esther — the queen of the Jews. Of course, this is an abomination. Luckily, Higazi is not recommending issuing a fatwah; he even tells muslims to not burn the stores down (we have not seen the video yet, so we don’t know if he winked or not). Now...

According to the Trademark documents, the Starbucks [Starbucks] mark consists of the wording "Starbucks Coffee" in a circular seal with two stars, and the design of a siren (a two-tailed mermaid) wearing a crown". But if you listen to Egyptian Cleric Safwat Higazi whose TV Sermons are seen through out the Muslim world, that two-tailed mermaid is really a picture of the Jewish Queen Esther, who's act of bravery is celebrated today, the Jewish Holiday of Purim. During his January 25th, show Higazi called for all Starbucks throughout the Arab and Islamic world to be shut down:

WASHINGTON -- Key Senate Democrats are wavering in their support of legislation that would give more power to labor unions, dealing a setback to labor's top priority as businesses warn of the damage the bill would cause. A woman wears a model house on her head during a rally in Washington to support the "Employee Free Choice Act." The battle over the "Employee Free Choice Act" -- expected to be introduced Tuesday -- is seen as a power struggle among labor unions and businesses, as well as a test of whether moderate Democrats and Republicans will push back on Democratic...

(KUNMING) -- China will export coffee directly to the United States in April, according to a deal signed between the ECUM Coffee Group and Yunnan Hogood Co. Ltd.. In a statement Saturday, Hogood said it will export 240 tonnes of coffee beans per month to Atlantic (USA) Inc., a member of the Denmark-based ECUM Coffee Group. Before this deal, Chinese coffee reached foreign consumers via international coffee suppliers, such as Nescafe and Starbucks. Jon H. Stefenson, director of marketing at the ECUM U.S. subsidiary, said packages of the company's coffee products will carry marks indicating the plantation origin as Yunnan....

CHICAGO (AP) -- Alongside its flashy array of triple espressos, foamy cappuccinos and half-caff extra-hot flavored lattes, Starbucks Corp. unveiled its newest coffee drink Tuesday: a cup of average, instant Joe served up for the equally proletarian price of about a dollar a cup.Hoping to convince recession-shocked customers to return to the brand that has spent years cultivating coffee connoisseurs, Starbucks is at first offering instant coffee only in Chicago and the chain's home base of Seattle. Executives hope the water-soluble "Via" -- sold in three- and 12-packs -- will reinvigorate the chain's sagging sales and profits, and give it...

Peter Mandelson attacks Starbucks chief over UK economy comments Lord Mandelson, the UK Business Secretary, has launched an extraordinary foul-mouthed attack on the chief of the Starbucks coffee empire Howard Schultz over the British economy. By Philip Sherwell in New York Last Updated: 4:59PM GMT 18 Feb 2009 Howard Schultz, chief executive of the international coffee store giant, told US television business network CNBC, that "the UK is in a spiral" with "very very poor" consumer confidence. At a reception during a visit to New York, a clearly furious Lord Mandelson made no attempt to hide his anger at what...

As the price of gas spiked last year and job losses mounted, more and more people began calculating their own latte factor and realized it was just too damn much to pay for a coffee drink. McDonald’s quickly capitalized on this realization. For all the mommies in minivans brimming with kids hopped up on Happy Meals, the daily Starbucks indulgence was an ill-affordable luxury. But what if McDonald’s offered them a similar treat – a cappuccino or latte — far below Starbucks prices? It was a perfectly timed move, and McDonald’s same-store sales jumped. Seeing an opportunity to cash in,...

Click here to watch Zo's newest video, Coffee and Stimulus

Starbucks, better known for amusingly complicated premium coffee offerings, took a cue from fast-food chains and announced a plan Monday to sell pairings of coffee and breakfast for $3.95, citing the economic downturn. With the $3.95 breakfast offer, customers will be able to get a 12-ounce coffee with a breakfast sandwich or roll or a 12-ounce latte with either oatmeal or a coffee cake. The company called the latest promotion an extension of various other recent Starbucks offers, including a loyalty card and discounting 16-ounce cold drinks to customers who made a purchase at Starbucks that morning. But the move...

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Michael Gates Gill was a high-flying, six-figure-earning advertising executive years ago before he was abruptly fired. He had created huge campaigns for companies like Christian Dior and Ford and lived an even bigger life, with luxury automobiles, lavish vacations and fabulous clothes. Michael Gates Gill's book about how working at Starbucks changed his life became a bestseller. These days, however, he's traded his $3,000 Brooks Brothers suits for khakis and a green apron; the big bucks for a $10 an hour job as a barista at Starbucks. But Gill says he couldn't be happier. "Losing my...

Seattle, WA (AHN) - Starbucks Corp. announced Wednesday that fiscal first quarter profit fell 69 percent as revenue dipped. The company also plans to close more stores, eliminating up to 6,000 jobs. The coffee chain operator posted fiscal first quarter earnings of $64.3 million or 9 cents a share, much lower than the $208.1 million or 28 cents a share earned in the same period the year before. Starbucks took a $75.5 million restructuring charge in the quarter for costs related to store closures. Excluding those costs the company earned 16 cents a share. Revenue fell as well, down 6...

Starbucks Plans to Slash as Many as 6,000 Jobs, Close 300 Stores in 2009 - Breaking News 5:04 PM EST

Another big round of layoffs is expected at Starbucks, possibly 1,000 people — a third of its headquarters employees — and some district managers and field employees, according to an e-mail sent to a stock brokerage's customers Friday. Starbucks declined to comment on possible layoffs. The Seattle coffee company releases its first-quarter results on Wednesday. Starbucks this week made Fortune magazine's annual list of the 100 best companies to work for. Although the company slid from seventh to 24th place, Fortune raved, "Despite closing 600 stores and laying off 1,200 employees, Starbucks remains an attractive workplace, especially for part-timers seeking...

Starbucks Coffee wants U.S. consumers to jump on president-elect Barack Obama’s volunteer bandwagon and pledge to join one of his community service corps. Obama and incoming first lady Michelle Obama want Americans to do community service the week of his inauguration Jan. 20. and commit this year to one of his so-called national service corps that will do volunteer work in schools and related to the environment. Starbucks said it will offer free “tall” coffee beginning Wednesday through Sunday for customers who fill out community service pledge cards at the coffee chain’s locations.

A demonstration in London against Israeli attacks on Gaza ended in violence after protesters looted and damaged shops, police said. Scotland Yard is investigating the damage, which was thought to be targeted at coffee shop chain Starbucks for the second week running. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "(It) is believed to be two branches of Starbucks, one in Shaftesbury Avenue, junction with Rupert Street and one in Piccadilly. Windows have been smashed and shops looted." The spokesman, who stressed the trouble was caused by a small minority, said officers contained a group of up to 200 people in Piccadilly which...

he United States coffee chain has recently been the subject of an internet boycott campaign amid claims it donates profits to Israel ? an accusation it strongly denies Photo: PA Riot police surrounded up to 240 demonstrators in central London, many wearing scarves covering their faces, who broke away from a rally in Trafalgar Square at about 5pm. Up to 200 were tracked by a police helicopter as they ransacked the coffee shops in Piccadilly and Shaftesbury Avenue while 40 more were contained in Hyde Park, thought to be on their way to the Israeli embassy in Kensington. The United...

Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday it is asking its customers to donate five hours of time to their communities as part of an initiative timed to coincide with President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration. Customers who fill out a pledge card to give five hours of time to a local "volunteer opportunity" of their choice will receive a free tall brewed coffee beginning Jan. 21 through Jan. 25. Customers can pick up pledge cards inside stores. The initiative comes as Obama, who called during his presidential campaign for a renewed commitment to community service, is sworn in to the Oval Office on Tuesday.

Chicago public school bureaucrats skirted public competitive bidding rules to buy 30 cappuccino/espresso machines for $67,000, with most of the machines going unused because the schools they were ordered for had not asked for them, according to a report by the CPS Office of Inspector General. That was just one example of questionable CPS actions detailed in the inspector general's 2008 annual report. Others included high school staffers changing grades to pump up transcripts of student athletes and workers at a restricted-enrollment grade school falsifying addresses to get relatives admitted. In the case of the cappuccino machines, central office administrators...

A one-time motel in a small central Maine town could soon be offering an eye-opening way to start the day — topless coffee shop waitresses. The Vassalboro Planning Board on Tuesday will consider a business permit request for a topless coffee shop on busy Route 3. The one-story building has also been the home to several other business ventures, most recently Mac Daddy's Pub at the Fat Cat Grille, which closed three or four years ago. Neighbors have mixed opinions. Some say Vassalboro is a rural town and that a topless coffee shop would bring the wrong crowd. But others...

Police investigate explosion in Starbucks in Rhode IslandThe Associated Press Friday January 02, 2009, 9:22 AM Police are investigating a small explosion that led to the evacuation of a Starbucks coffee shop in Providence, R.I. No injuries were reported and police said the only damage was minor charring on the floor. Investigators believe someone set off a homemade incendiary device in a plastic soda bottle as a prank Thursday night, police Maj. Thomas Oates said. About 25 people were in the shop on the city's East Side when the explosion happened. **SNIP**

Starbucks Corp. told employees the company will no longer guarantee that it will make a company match to their 401(k) accounts next year. In a letter to employees sent last week, the coffee giant said it will switch to a "fully discretionary match" from a "fixed employer match" starting Jan. 1 for employees "future roast" retirement savings plans. That means the company can decide whether or not to make matching contributions to participants in the retirement plan for future years. The Wall Street Journal reviewed the letter and the company confirmed it. "In order to invest and grow responsibly and...

Waste coffee grounds can provide a cheap, abundant, and environmentally friendly source of biodiesel fuel, according to a study by researchers at the University of Nevada-Reno. According to the USDA, world coffee production is 16.34 billion pounds per year; the scientists estimated that spent coffee grounds can potentially add 340 million gallons of biodiesel to the world’s fuel supply. A paper on the work was published online in the ACS Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Spent coffee grounds contain between 11-20 wt.% oil. The process developed by Mano Misra, Susanta Mohapatra, and Narasimharao Kondamudi for extracting that oil for...

Every been to Starbucks? They’re precious. When I enter, I have the feeling I’m entering the set of “Frasier.” Remember that show? “Café Nervosa” is modeled after Starbucks and it’s the coffee shop in which the pretentious Frasier brothers hung out, ordering “half-caf cappuccino with non-fat foam and a hint of cinnamon.” We got into the habit of going to Starbucks after church on Sunday. I could not make myself tell the girl behind the counter that I wanted a “Tall” coffee when all I wanted was a small coffee. The official Starbucks size naming scheme is a pretentious use...

JPMorgan Chase is laying off 3,400 Washington Mutual employees in Seattle, according to spokesman Tom Kelly. That's more than 80 percent of the 4,300 people it employs in the city. Most branch workers will keep their jobs, however. WaMu's former headquarters city is taking the brunt of the 9,200 WaMu layoffs that JPMorgan is making nationwide. It employs about 43,200 people altogether. Many of the laid-off workers will be on the so-called "transition team," helping merge WaMu's business into that of JPMorgan, which bought most of the bank's assets for $1.9 billion after it failed in September. About 1,900 of...

Ever walk into a Starbucks and see a bunch of people sitting there debating textbook theories and solving all the world’s problems over a mocha java? If so, then you’ve visited a University of Starbucks campus. These are precisely the kind of people who have gotten America into the current economic mess. That’s because, when there’s a serious problem to deal with, their instinct is to theorize and philosophize. If their corduroys were on fire, they would sit there pondering the nature and deeper meaning of the flames. Now, the sophisticated intelligentsia of Team Grande Venti – which means something...

Just saw a CNBC interview with Michael Gates Gill the author of How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else. What a pantload! Son of privilege is right. Son of Brendan Gill, New Yorker critic and columnist, he grew up in a Bronxville mansion with regular guests like John and Jackie Kennedy, Ernest Hemingway, John Updike and Brendan Behan showing up for tea and crumpets and Chivas Regal. His life story is a prototype blueprint illustrating how birth privilege provides a safety net for all manner of irresponsible behavior. Drop out of college......

STARBUCKS promotes GOOD National Service. Step into any Starbucks this week and pick up the Free Starbucks GOOD newsletter No 010 November 13-19, 2008. GOOD NATIONAL SERVICE....What can you do for your country? Quote" As always, AMERICA, Love it or FIX IT. (I guess that little old constitution is obsolete) I asked my Barista if he knew about the compulsory civic service. I asked my Barista if he knew about service for tuition I asked my Barista if he knew about public allies at www.publicallies.org Poor guy fixed himself with a treble shot full milk late with caramel and honey...