The world’s biggest coffee chain just completed its first trip around the sun under CEO Brian Niccol, the former Chipotle chief executive who got a ~$100 million pay package to join Starbucks one year ago this week. Since pivoting from black and pinto beans to roasted and ground ones, Niccol has been trying to reverse Starbucks’s falling sales by returning to its coffeehouse origins.
What he’s been up to:
- Starbucks’s self-serve condiment bars are back, as are comfy chairs and ceramic mugs in some locations. Plus, refills of drip coffee and tea are free so that people stick around.
- Upcharges for nondairy milk are gone, the menu is more streamlined, and a forthcoming protein cold foam will soon let customers gains-max their beverages.
- Baristas—most of whom already felt overwhelmed—now have to wear a black T-shirt and pants, greet customers, scribble personalized messages on each to-go cup, and ideally hand over drinks within four minutes.
Status report: With same-store US sales in decline for six straight quarters, Starbucks’s stock is down ~9% over the past year, as Wall Street remains uncertain of Niccol’s plan. But there are some optimistic signs—traffic dips and sales declines are slowing, per Restaurant Dive, and Starbucks’s China business is also improving.
On average, analysts who spoke with Business Insider gave Niccol a B for the year.—ML
This report was originally published by Morning Brew.
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