Starbucks has said it will discontinue its Odyssey non-fungible token beta program and members “have until March 25, 2024, to complete any remaining journeys.” Starbucks stated on its FAQ page that it will keep its NFT community in mind and is working to find a place for its members to connect in the future. Starbucks […]
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The exterior of Starbucks’ new Union Market location
Source: Starbucks
Starbucks has unveiled a new store design focused on accessibility and inclusion, with fresh light fixtures and open floor plans.
The coffee giant opened the first location with the new design on Friday in Washington, D.C.’s Union Market.
“Designing for disabilities is just good design for everybody,” said Sara Trilling, president of Starbucks North America.
She added that designing a more accessible cafe took about two years and that the company solicited input from Starbucks baristas.
Starbucks designed the store to have an unobstructed path for customers.
Source: Starbucks
The Union Market cafe has power-operated doors so customers can use less effort to enter the cafe. Once inside, they can place their orders with baristas using a new point-of-sale system that has an adjustable angle stand, voice assist, screen magnification and photos of menu items.
“Imagine somebody who doesn’t speak English as a first language, and you’re trying to make sure that you’re getting [the order] right and providing great service. You’ll have an opportunity through some visual cues to make those confirmations,” Trilling said.
The counters are also lower, making them more accessible for wheelchair users, for example.
The store’s counters are lower, giving wheelchair users a better experience.
Source: Starbucks
Behind the counter, Starbucks’ new Clover Vertica system for brewing drip coffee has a more accessible design, with a large dial and protruding buttons.
“You can actually feel the settings by touch or using light to indicate when brewing cycles and other things have been completed,” Trilling said.
Starbucks’ new Clover Vertica brewing system features large dials and protruding buttons for easier use.
Source: Starbucks
Digital status boards show customers when their drinks are ready to pick up, in addition to baristas calling out their names.
Starbucks also changed the store lighting to minimize glare, shadows and backlighting that can make it more difficult to see. Insulation has been improved, too, so stores aren’t as noisy.
And Starbucks designed the overall floor plan of the store to be free of obstacles and to have open sightlines.
All future company-owned locations will follow a similar framework. Starbucks plans to open more than 600 new stores this year, increasing its U.S. footprint by 4%, including licensed locations.
The store’s lighting is softer, and insulation keeps noise levels lower.
Source: Starbucks
Building more accessible stores won’t be materially more expensive than using current designs, according to Trilling.
“I think about it as something that’s going to help us in terms of customer connection. It’s going to help us in terms of employee engagement,” she said.
Veterans Day, the federal holiday honoring those who have served in the U.S. armed forces, is this Saturday — and there are plenty of discounts to be had for America’s service members.
Some businesses and offices may be closed or have modified hours on Veterans Day or the Friday before the holiday, so be sure to take that into account before venturing for a meal or shopping trip. But many retailers are open for business and ready to thank veterans for their service by giving out free food and drinks, or discounts on other goods.
Related: Scams targeting veterans are on the rise — here’s how to avoid them
So here are some (of the many) Veterans Days freebies and deals available for former and sometimes active military personnel (all times local). Some businesses may require a valid military identification prior to receiving any freebie or discount.
The coffee and pastry chain is giving veterans and active military members a free doughnut on Saturday. The deal is available in-store, and is limited to one per person.
Krispy Kreme
DNUT,
is giving veterans and active military service members a free doughnut and a free small coffee on Saturday. The deal is limited to one per customer, and is only available in-store.
The chain
DIN,
is giving away free red, white and blue pancakes on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to active military and veterans.
The Seattle-based coffee chain is giving veterans, active military and their spouses a free 12-ounce coffee on Veterans Day. The Starbucks
SBUX,
freebie is limited to one per customer, and is available in-store or via the drive-through only.
Free coffees will be available on Saturday from this Canada-based chain
QSR,
QSR,
to veterans and active military. Limit one per customer.
The sports-bar chain is offering a free order of 10 boneless wings to veterans and armed service members on Saturday. The offer is dine-in only, and comes with a side order of fries.
Perhaps the most free food a veteran could get on the holiday comes from the Golden Corral buffet chain. Current and former military members and their families are eligible for a free dinner the Monday following the holiday (Nov. 13). This covers a sit-down meal at the restaurant; no takeout orders.
The Applebee’s chain is giving all veterans and active military a free entree on Saturday. The freebie includes certain popular menu items, including the 6-ounce sirloin, the bacon cheeseburger and chicken salad.
The Mid-Atlantic sandwich chain and convenience store is offering veterans and active duty military members a free meal and car wash on Veterans Day.
Family-friendly restaurant and ice-cream maker Friendly’s is offering veterans and active military members a free lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Chili’s
EAT,
is also offering a free entrée to veterans who dine-in. The freebie is for Saturday only, and applies to current and former military personnel.
The burger chain
RRGB,
is giving veterans and active military a free order of a burger and bottomless steak fries while dining in. The freebie is for Saturday only.
Free smoothies are available to active and former military men and women on Veterans Day. The Smoothie King’s freebie is for a 20-ounce drink, and is for Saturday only.
The seafood chain is giving all veterans and active military duty a free shrimp meal for the next few weeks. The deal comes with six fried pieces of shrimp, fries and coleslaw, and can be redeemed anytime from Monday Nov. 13 to Sunday Dec. 10.
In addition to all of the freebies, several businesses are also offering discounts to current and former military members.
Office Depot is offering a 25% off deal on qualifying regular and sale-price goods, and Lowe’s
LOW,
always offers a 10% discount to veterans, although it’s also throwing in a free collectible pin to the first 150 who show up on Saturday. Sleep Number
SNBR,
is offering a 20% discount, Tractor Supply
TSCO,
is offering a 15% discount and Adidas
ADS,
ADDYY,
is giving a 30% discount online and in-store to veterans, as well.
Target
TGT,
has a 10% discount for current and former military members, as well as their spouses and children, which is available in-store and online. Home Depot
HD,
is offering a 10% discount to active military, veterans and their spouses on eligible purchases, and Walgreens
WBA,
is offering 20% eligible regular-priced items from Nov. 10 to 13 for myWalgreens members who served in the military.
Starbucks Corp. on Wednesday said former Chief Executive Howard Schultz is stepping down from its board of directors, capping a nearly 40-year career during which the company grew from a handful of stores in Seattle into a global coffee chain.
Schultz’s retirement from the board, which ends his involvement in the company’s leadership, took effect Wednesday and was part of a planned transition, the coffee chain said. Schultz stepped down as Starbucks
SBUX,
chief executive in March.
The company on Wednesday also said that it had elected Wei Zhang to its board of directors, effective Oct. 1. Zhang was most recently a senior adviser to Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group
BABA,
and also held leadership positions at News Corp China and CNBC China.
Shares of Starbucks were down 0.7% after hours on Wednesday.
Starbucks said Schultz “will now turn his attention with his wife, Sheri, to focus on a range of philanthropic and entrepreneurial investments to create greater opportunity, accessible to all.” The company noted that the two were co-founders of the Schultz Family Foundation in 1996, and of the emes project.
Although he was not technically the founder of the coffee chain, Schultz became the modern face of it. Schultz joined Starbucks in 1982 as its director of operations and marketing. After a brief hiatus from the company, he returned in 1987 as chief executive and bought the business with backing from local investors, according to a biography on the Starbucks website. The chain went public in 1992.
As the chain’s footprint expanded beyond the U.S., Schultz stepped down from the CEO role in 2000 but returned in 2008. He retired from Starbucks in 2018, then came back as interim chief executive and board member last year.
Over those years, Starbucks has banked on China for international growth — even as that country’s economy remains turbulent following the postpandemic reopening. It also added food and cold and customizable drinks to its menus and built out its mobile-ordering infrastructure.
The company has branded itself as a progressive employer and a supporter of social justice. But over the past two years, the company, and Schultz in particular, have faced criticism over the handling of employees who were trying to unionize. Union members have accused the chain of unfair labor practices, retaliation for organizing and delaying contract negotiations, leading to deeper scrutiny from lawmakers.
“We hope this is an opportunity for Starbucks to change course and leave their union-busting behind them,” Starbucks Workers United, the union representing those workers, said Wednesday in a tweet.
Still, even as inflation has eaten into consumer savings, Schultz said coffee has remained an “affordable luxury” for many customers. And Starbucks management said that younger, loyal consumers and customizable drinks would help sustain demand.
According to a filing on Wednesday, Schultz will still be connected to the company in other ways. Starbucks said it would amend Schultz’s retirement agreement from 2018 and continue to provide him and his spouse with security services.
“The security services will be provided for a period of 10 years and will be evaluated on an annual basis,” the filing said. “In recognition of Mr. Schultz’s leadership as the company’s founder and chairman emeritus, the company will also provide Mr. Schultz with the reimbursement of his monthly healthcare insurance premiums.”
Here are some of the biggest stock-market movers in Wednesday trading.
Stock gainers:
Shares of Humana Inc.
HUM
were gaining more than 5% Wednesday after the company signaled a stabilization in claims activity after previously warning of elevated levels.
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Jurors in federal court have awarded $25.6 million to a former Starbucks regional manager who alleged that she and other white employees were unfairly punished after the high-profile arrests of two Black men at a Philadelphia location in 2018.
Shannon Phillips won $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages on Monday after a jury in New Jersey found that race was a determinative factor in Phillips’ firing, in violation of federal and state anti-discrimination.
In April 2018, a Philadelphia store manager called police on two Black men who were sitting in the coffee shop without ordering anything. Phillips, then regional manager of operations in Philadelphia, southern New Jersey, and elsewhere, was not involved with arrests. However, she said she was ordered to put a white manager who also wasn’t involved on administrative leave for reasons she knew were false, according to her lawsuit.
Phillips said she was fired less than a month later after objecting to the manager being placed on leave amid the uproar, according to her lawsuit.
The company’s rationale for suspending the district manager, who was not responsible for the store where the arrests took place, was an allegation that Black store managers were being paid less than white managers, according to the lawsuit. Phillips said that argument made no sense since district managers had no input on employee salaries.
The lawsuit alleged Starbucks was instead taking steps to “punish white employees” who worked in the area “in an effort to convince the community that it had properly responded to the incident.”
During closing arguments on Friday, Phillips’ lawyer Laura Mattiacci told jurors that the company was looking for a “sacrificial lamb” to calm the outrage and show that it was taking action, Law360 reported. Picking a Black employee for such a purpose “would have blown up in their faces,” she said.
Starbucks denied Phillips’ allegations, saying the company needed someone with a track record of “strength and resolution” during a crisis and replaced her with a regional manager who had such experience, including navigating the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, Law360 reported.
Phillips’ attorney, however, cited earlier testimony from a Black district manager, who was responsible for the store where the arrests took place, who described Phillips as someone beloved by her peers and who worked around the clock after the arrests.
In an email to The Associated Press, Mattiacci confirmed the award amount and said the judge will consider awarding back pay and future pay, as well as attorney’s fees. Mattiacci told the New Jersey Law Journal that she will seek about $3 million for lost pay, and roughly $1 million on her fee application. Starbucks declined comment Tuesday.
In the April 2018 incident, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were arrested in a Starbucks coffee shop near tony Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia shortly after the manager called police to report that two men were refusing to either make a purchase or leave the premises. They were later released without charges.
Video of the arrest prompted national outcry and led the current CEO of Starbucks to personally apologize to the men. The company later reached a settlement with both men for an undisclosed sum and an offer of free college education. The company also changed store policies and closed locations across the country for an afternoon for racial-bias training.
The two men also reached a deal with the city of Philadelphia for a symbolic $1 each and a promise from officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs. The Philadelphia Police Department adopted a new policy on how to deal with people accused of trespassing on private property — warning businesses against misusing the authority of police officers.