In early September, just days after Brian Niccol had stepped into his role as the new chief executive officer at Starbucks, he published an open letter addressed to all the coffee chain’s partners, customers and stakeholders acknowledging two major truths about the brand: The first is that Starbucks, with its nearly 16,500 United States locations, is “woven into the fabric of people’s lives” and the communities they serve; the second is that, in its effort to grow and expand (and explore the limits of what a frappuccino cup can hold), Starbucks doesn’t quite feel like Starbucks anymore.
“There’s a shared sense that we have drifted from our core,” Niccol wrote. “We have an opportunity to make the store experience better for our partners and, in turn, for our customers.”
