Starbucks Union

More from the conference call with analysts: * "When, not if, this environment does get better that Starbucks is going to be a stronger company for having gone through it," said Howard Schultz. * Starbucks shouldn't drastically change its identity...

"There are still opportunities to be profitable here, which is great news," says Dan Lewis, Starbucks’ group marketing manager in the Northeast Atlantic region. He wouldn't say where Starbucks is looking to expand, or how many new New York City...

"Seems like something big is happening on Thursday," says an e-mail from a Starbucks Gossip reader. "All rvp's and rd's have a conference call with Howard [Schultz] at 9am. RDs are then to have a conference call with all their...

A barista at an Evanston store told me this morning he was surprised there wasn't a lot of chatter about the RED stuff on this blog. I could only shrug. What's there to say? I also got this e-mail: "My...

The chair at the Nyack, NY Starbucks where Fleming Taylor sat is cordoned off with black ribbon and filled with bouquets and notes announcing his death. Every day, the 62-year-old Taylor would walk into the Starbucks as the doors opened,...

A federal judge has denied a request by Starbucks to dismiss an age discrimination lawsuit filed last year by a 56-year-old Portland, Maine woman who says she submitted multiple applications, but was never hired as a barista. The order clears...

A federal judge has denied a request by Starbucks to dismiss an age discrimination lawsuit filed last year by a 56-year-old Portland, Maine woman who says she submitted multiple applications to stores in the Portland area, but was never hired...

I'm thankful there will be stores open when I make my Illinois-to-Wisconsin drive this afternoon. Do other customers seem as pleased that you're working on the holiday? Tell your Thanksgiving tales here.

Starbucks says in a filing: "Management expects the company to continue to face a very difficult economic environment throughout fiscal 2009," in the United States and internationally, including in the two largest company-operated markets, Canada and the United Kingdom. ||...

UPDATE: It's now posted in the first comment. Starbucks employees say in the open thread below that a laptop with 97,000 employees' social security numbers, names and addresses was stolen, and that a message about this theft was sent to...

I complained four years ago after hearing Christmas music being played in Chicago-area Starbucks stores on November 8! I'm pleased to read that the company is now waiting until after Thanksgiving to put on the holiday tunes. Share your thoughts...

"How many months pregnant are you? Oh....you're not!" And customers -- what kind of exchanges with baristas do you wish you could take back? (Ugly name-calling after getting an unsatisfactory drink? An awkward date-proposal to a barista who you later...

Debbie e-mails STARBUCKS GOSSIP: "What's the posting policy is for what goes on the Community Boards? I ask because I volunteer for non-profits that host fundraisers such as 10K walk/runs, a ballet show, etc. Some Starbucks stores say "yes, go...

Please take it seriously as it provides important info to Starbucks Gossip potential advertisers. I'll share the results when they're available. (P.S. Ignore the "warning" that's in the survey introduction.) || Starbucks Gossip Reader Survey

Rex Huppke writes in his "humor" piece: "Clearly, this is a time for citizens to rally for a cause greater than themselves. To come to the aid of a once-great corporation that simplified our morning coffee choice by thanklessly driving...

Starbucks announced this week the creation of "1st Readers Club," and said the first book to be discussed is "The House at Sugar Beach" by Helene Cooper. Discuss the book club or anything else Starbucks-related in the OPEN THREAD comments...

Will someone who works at the Franklin/Nicollet store in Minneapolis set the record straight, please? (To those who asked why I removed this story yesterday: I did it because first version was incorrect, as the paper acknowledges.) || UPDATE: A...

Seattle Post-Intelligencer cartoonist David Horsey exaggerates Starbucks' plight a bit, but he makes his point that the chain has seen better days. Monica Guzman notes that the 97% profit drop in the last quarter is mostly due to costs associated...

What Robert Passikoff writes is hardly news to Starbucks Gossip readers, but I'll share it anyway: "Once the grinders stopped grinding, the shops lost that nice coffee smell. And without hand-pulled shots, the sense of theater was gone from the...

Starbucks says profit fell to $5.4 million, or a penny a share, from $158.5 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts expected profit of 13 cents per share and revenue of $2.58 billion. Actual fourth quarter revenue...