I am very pleased with our first quarter performance, which demonstrated focused execution at all levels of the business and delivered the most successful first quarter in Starbucks history.
Cutting prices or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy.
The rules of engagement around building a brand have changed significantly over the past 10 to 15 years. Where companies at one time could spread their message through traditional marketing, consumers now seek an enduring emotional connection with the companies they patronize. The foundation of that connection is the most important characteristic of building a world-class brand: trust. Trust with your people and trust with your customers.
We want passion for our business.. workers who can interpret and execute our mission, who want to build a career, not just take a temporary job.
Overnight the digital age had changed the course of history for our company. Everything that we thought was in our control no longer was. But within a year we had invested in social media and digital experts. Now Starbucks is the number one brand on Facebook.
A great business has to have a conscience. You have to know who you are and who you are not.
Business leaders cannot be bystanders.
In many ways what we announced today is a milestone in building the business in China, ... But it mirrors what we did in the past 25 years in America in creating profitability and balancing that with a social conscience.
We want to stay here. We love this city. We raised our kids here. We built our businesses here and we're being forced to accept a set of circumstances that are not acceptable. We can't continue to lose this kind of money.
Our core beverages, coupled with a strong holiday promotion, drove results in our retail stores, while solid growth in licensed locations led to the increase in our specialty business revenues.
I'm not as interested in what you make as I am in what you're passionate about. What business are you really in?