Retail coffee chain Starbucks (SBUX) plans to boost its sales with a new lineup of artisanal pastries and protein drinks.
The Seattle-based company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Niccol made the announcement on a recent podcast, saying “We need to be an experimental organization.”
Niccol added that Starbucks is also embracing artificial intelligence (A.I.) with its new “Green Dot Assist,” a virtual assistant platform that helps employees solve problems quickly.
Most importantly, Starbucks is adding menu innovations in a bid to attract consumers, including what it calls “protein-forward” breakfast items and artisanal pastries.
The new A.I. assistant and diversified menu items come after Starbucks recently announced plans to close unprofitable store locations, including dozens in Canada.
The company plans to reduce its store count by 1% in Canada and the U.S. this fiscal year.
The total company-operated and licensed stores across America and Canada will be nearly 18,300 at fiscal year-end, down from 18,842.
Starbucks will also eliminate 900 corporate jobs as part of a total restructuring effort that will cost roughly $1 billion U.S. to implement.
The company has also committed to remodeling 1,000 stores to bring back seating and plants, as it bets that consumers want a hangout place that includes free internet access.
The restructuring and changes come with SBUX stock down 10% this year and trading at $82.86 U.S. per share. That compares to a 14% advance for the S&P 500 index year-to-date.
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