An indication of economic health of America is…Starbucks.
As we feel that we can or can’t afford the luxury of massively overpriced coffee, we are able to judge the health of the economy.
And the how has Starbucks done?
Well, here is a news report about 2 years ago:
Originally published January 28, 2009 at 1:14 PM | Page modified January 29, 2009 at 9:01 AM
By Melissa Allison
Seattle Times business reporter
Starbucks will cut 6,000 positions as it closes 300 stores worldwide over the next eight months and will eliminate about 700 non-store workers by mid-February as it cuts costs to stem its eroding profits.
The immediate layoffs include about 350 employees at its Seattle headquarters, about 11 percent of the 3,200 people who work there. The 300 store closures will include 200 U.S. shops.
The company also said that its profit dropped 69 percent to $64.3 million, or 9 cents a share, in the first quarter ended Dec. 28.
YIKES!
Here is a news report right now:
Starbucks Corp., the world’s biggest coffee chain, plans to more than double the rate at which it opens stores to an average of more than one a day as the global economy recovers.
“Our ability to navigate through the financial crisis and come out much stronger gives us reason to start growing the company again,” Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz said in an interview in China’s Yunnan province today. He plans to open 500 stores in the fiscal year that began in October, with 400 outside the U.S., he said.
Nice. Now, I’m off to get a cup ‘o joe.