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The time to order wild flavor pairings and niche treats from Starbucks is now as they may not be around much longer.
Come late 2025, the coffee conglomerate will have dropped 30 percent of its refreshments and food offerings from its menu in accordance with CEO Brian Niccol’s “Back to Starbucks” plan to help make up for a four percent global sales loss.
Niccol has also already implemented changes to help solve the company’s financial woes including the return of the self-service condiments bar, new ceramic mugs for patrons wanting to sit and enjoy their drinks, as well as free refills on coffee and tea for anyone in-store.
“We believe this is the fundamental change in strategy needed to solve our underlying issues, restore confidence in our brand and return the business to sustainable, long-term growth,” Niccol said in the Starbucks Q1 Fiscal Year 2025 Results report.
Meanwhile, Rachel Ruggeri, Starbucks’ CFO, said: “We are encouraged by our Q1 results, which demonstrated the effectiveness of our ‘Back to Starbucks’ strategy, evidenced by our top-line trend.”
Earlier this month, Starbucks reversed its laid-back, open-door policy from 2018 that invited everyone into its stores even if they weren’t paying customers.
Now, an updated policy will prohibit people from hanging out or using the restroom at all locations without making a purchase.
If a patron is caught using the facilities and they haven’t bought anything, they will be asked to leave and the store may call law enforcement if necessary.
The fresh policy also bans discrimination or harassment, consumption of outside alcohol, smoking, vaping, drug use and panhandling in all North American stores.
“We want everyone to feel welcome and comfortable in our stores,” Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson said. “By setting clear expectations for behavior and use of our spaces, we can create a better environment for everyone.”
The rule reversal comes seven years after two Black men were arrested in Philadelphia Starbucks where they had gone for a business meeting. This particular Starbucks location had a policy of asking non-paying customers to leave if they weren’t planning on buying anything.
The arrest of the two men, which was caught on video, turned out to be a bad look for the company.
At the time, Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz spoke up, arguing the company had no intention of making anyone feel “less than.”
“We don’t want to become a public bathroom, but we’re going to make the right decision a hundred percent of the time and give people the key,” Schultz said.
