Posted on 03/02/2024 3:42:03 AM PST by dennisw
Starbucks' founder posted a letter he wrote to the company's leadership team about its future. Howard Schultz said Starbucks is at an "inflection point" and has an opportunity for a "reset."
The founder encouraged the company's leadership to address Starbucks' systemic issues.
Howard Schultz wants Starbucks to go on a soul-searching journey.
The coffee chain founder and former CEO posted a two-page letter on LinkedIn on Thursday that he sent to the company's leadership in early February.
Schultz, 70, first served as CEO from 1987 to 2000, then from 2008 to 2017, and then returned in April 2022 as interim CEO until March 2023.
He stepped down from Starbucks' board of directors in a planned transition in late 2023 and was given the title "lifelong Chairman Emeritus." Schultz wrote in the letter titled "The Soul of a Brand" that Starbucks is at an "inflection point." He said this crossroad shouldn't be unnerving because most companies go through it at some point.
Rather, the company should seize the moment as an opportunity to reset and reinvent itself, Schultz said. The way to do so is for the brand to return to its core values and rediscover its "soul."
"The organizations that endure — and thrive in — the disruption of today and tomorrow will be those that are not just nimble and innovative," Schultz said in the post. "But those that embrace their core purpose and reason for being."
Schultz said that not all companies stand the test of time or have a "soul," which he describes as a combined sense of history, culture, values, and connection.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
My wife got a $5 GC from a friend for SB. She said, “that’ll take care of the hot water I guess. Tea bag will be extra”.
Someone can’t spell ‘INFECTION’.
These left-wing corporations don’t understand the power of the right. You don’t dis the right wing and then expect your profits to stay the same. It’s just math.
Soulsearching?
LMDFAO
coffee is not SOUL FOOD!
Mark Simone a New York radio conservative said it best, “Starbuck’s coffee tastes like somebody out a cigarette out in it.”
I wouldn’t drink swill for free.
Starbucks is a stylish fad. When the luster of the style fades, the overexpansion excesses kick in to erode profitability.
The result is that Starbucks must compete on the ordinary business principles of a better product than the competition.
If I happen to have a bag of Starbucks coffee on hand I’ll mix a little bit of it into the blend I’m brewing rather than using it solo. It’s a nice addition when in smaller amounts. Businesses do well to stay out of the political divide. Leftardism sucks but if I had a business I would welcome their patronage.
Gift cards are a HUGE money maker for companies. Little accounting required. Some companies report a 47% profit on the cards not used or lost. There’s a reason Menards gives away 11% every other week, customer loyalty and decent attrition of rebates are gained.
Especially since their coffee is awful.
What a lot of corporate-style jargon. You could fill up a BS Bingo card pretty quickly listening to this guy.
Also he’s getting away from unions.
It also sounds like Starbuck’s Seattle cool vibe is over.
Starbucks the last place you want to get coffee at it tastes like the burned the beans it’s why they have to dope it up with sugar to sell it.
More fructose
More sugar
More 1000 calorie drinks
More pink hair
More nose rings
More gay pride
More trannies
Its been the recipe for success so far. why change now?
Most of the pick up trucks make a racket as they approach you.
The electric vehicles are silent—no warning.
Most of the hotels I stay at (100 or more per year) now have automatic espresso machines in the lobby with all the free lattes, cappuccino, mochas or whatever you want.
Sharp wits on the internet then pointed out that if this racist wanted to help "people of color" so much, why wasn't there a Starbucks in Ferguson, Missouri? Made him eat crow and open one that took two years to open and likely has been losing a small fortune ever since. That needs to replicated everywhere - this man should be asked daily why there isn't a Starbucks in every such location.
Overpriced burnt coffee and coffee-flavored insulin shock frou-frou drinks. Sprinkle on some woke/DEI employee indoctrination. Great business model.
They are: a lot more. That's part of the problem. The coffee prices were always high and have moved somewhat higher. But the price for everything else has almost doubled and the sizes have been reduced by probably 25% or more. The quality of the food items is also not what it once was. Two medium coffees + 5 breakfast items + tax is getting north of $30, close to what a sit-down breakfast would be at a diner. McDonald's has the same problem or even worse with a "value meal" > $11.00 with tax near where I live for crappy food.
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