Results tagged “howardschultz”

From the Daily Show last night. Starbucks mating with Morning Joe starts at 1:15. Is this what's going on at Q13?

Way back in November we wrote that we were going to start following the Blazers. We got off to a fast start; however, as the NBA season ground on and the Huskies took off, we kind of fell off the map on that one. The December snow canceled our trip to the Rose Garden--well, that and the lack of any planning whatsoever.

One thing that's been bugging us about Howard Schultz's rah-rah at the Starbucks annual meeting yesterday is his attack on the "myth" of the $4 coffee. Why? Stop, stop, you've winkled it out of us! Look, you can't deal with a perception by defining it out of existence: "Half of the beverages we sell are under $3," says Schultz, knowing he's misrepresenting the issue. People think a latte at Starbucks will cost them, with tax and tip, closer to $4 than $3.

(H/t to Metblogs for finding SBX_IronChef.) Howard Schultz is rallying the troops this morning, and we've been eavesdropping via Twitter: "Great companies will evolve their strategies while retaining their core customer....We are the largest buyer of high grade arabica coffee that is Fair Trade in the world...We will be communicating this...Half of the beverages we sell are under $3, 1/3 under $2, and brewed coffee is a fantastic value...[on sales of Starbucks gift card at Costco] 2 weeks in, Costco ran out. It became the the #1 product in EVERY Costco location. (draws applause). 5 mill sold!"

Howard Schultz says no more layoffs at Starbucks, and if you believe that we'd love to show you our oceanfront property in Oklahoma. Life continues to be unfair: Microsoft's permatemps are protesting a 10 percent pay cut while former president Bush is charging $150,000 per speech but the sun will come out tomorrow next year: Sleepless in Seattle may be adapted for the Broadway stage, exposing a whole new generation to dated stereotypes of this city. Can't wait.

In the beginning, the Lord divided the bean from the water and created Nescafé. For generations, it was the standard of instant coffee, until Prince Howard of the Dark Brew tasted the Nescafé and said it should be made better. His flavor engineers labored mightily for many years, until they perfected a system of microgrinding beans of pure arabica (taking care to buy them only from farmers using sustainable agricultural practices and humane conditions for the workers, because the Dark Prince was highly image-conscious), so that a mere tenth of an ounce of extract would produce a full cup of coffee no less flavorful than the coffee brewed throughout his kingdom of Starbucks.

Just last week we mentioned a memo that Starbucks layoffs were in the wind, but with the caveat that the cuts were supposed to hit management hardest. Half right. The Wall Street Journal says the carnage is in response to Starbucks earning only $64 million in the first quarter. Apparently the $64 million answer is to close 200 U.S. stores, with another 100 international locations on the chopping block, and to lay off 6,000 store employees, with another 700 culled from Seattle HQ and other field offices. For reaction, we turn to a commenter at Starbucks Gossip: "Holy s**t! It's the damn Titanic!!" CEO Howard Schultz has cut his salary to $10,000 from $1.2 million--the WSJ says, "Once his health-care coverage costs are deducted from his salary, Mr. Schultz will earn less than $4 a month."

Last week, Starbucks announced that same store sales had dropped 9 percent in their U.S. shops. That news is followed today by McDonald's getting all braggy about their sales increasing 7.7 percent, leading us to wonder whether the other 1.3% just threw in the towel and switched to the hard stuff.

Hey now, Wearers of the Green Apron! We know there's at least one or two of you dying to spill the beans about the uber-mysterious company-wide conference call scheduled for tomorrow. Starbucks Gossipers are guessing the call (emceed by Uncle Howard himself) might be about labor cuts or more store closings. C'mon Sbuxians! We are dying to know what this is all about! If someone left us the call-in number and security code in the Seattlest Tip Jar, it'd be our little secret. As always.

Local sports-talk radio station KJR-AM (950) is giving frustrated Seattle sports fans the opportunity to select the biggest turkey of the sports scene in the past year. Vote early, vote often. Every day, the lowest vote getter gets knocked out and a new poll starts. There are local and national categories, and our personal fave is Brad Keller, attorney for the Sonics, although Mayor Greg Nickels sure would be a delicious option.

Showstopper of Seattle's long-running cabaret Angry Housewives was, you may recall, a number titled "Eat Your F***ing Cornflakes!" (What, you don't remember? Brain cells degraded by poor nutrition, no doubt.) Anyway, Starbucks is now seeking to recapture the breakfast market by offering freshly zapped oatmeal with a choice of fruit, brown sugar, or mixed nuts.

Call us 'jaded', but Seattlest has come to expect corrupt politicians and scheming corporate shills to do their dirty work on Friday afternoons. It's just the way they work. Somewhere out there in public relations land, there must exist a playbook extolling the virtues of arson and manslaughter, as long as it's done on the last day of the week.

The two clever guys living in Oklahoma City stumbled upon some pretty good evidence which appears to confirm that your Sonics will be known as the Oklahoma City Thunder next season. Seems the NBA is using that name on its website, too. (h/t Deadspin)

Howard Schultz has done Wallace Stevens one better. The poet found 13 ways of looking at a blackbird, but since his return in January the CEO has tried 14 things to revitalize the brand—including such contradictions as offering both "better coffee" and "worse coffee," and getting rid of breakfast sandwiches and bringing back breakfast sandwiches. (Does he contradict himself? Very well then, he contradicts himself.) Diana Wolf has compiled the (still growing) list ... twice. We prefer the stripped-down version on What I Learned Today, but there are more comments and snappier headlines on the Mental Floss edition.