Maureen Dowd: Starbucks' Howard Schultz Urged to Challenge Hillary

.Howard Schultz, the chairman and CEO of Starbucks, is being urged to challenge Hillary 

Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Schultz, 62, is getting encouragement from supporters because they believe "the time is right for someone who's not a political lifer," New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd said on Saturday. "It may be a tempting proposition."

Raised in low-income housing in Brooklyn, Schultz later graduated from Northern Michigan University. He bought Starbucks in 1988 and built the company to where its operating income totaled $939 million in its most recent quarter, on $4.9 billion in sales.

Schultz also once owned the Seattle Supersonics.

"He has strong opinions, and even position papers, about what he calls the fraying American dream," writes Dowd, who has long criticized Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.

She referenced the book Schultz co-wrote last year, "For Love of Country: What Our Veterans Can Teach Us About Citizenship, Heroism, and Sacrifice."

"While he was promoting his book on veterans last year, he honed a message about making government work again and finding 'authentic, truthful leadership,'" Dowd said.

Via: Newsmax

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Starbucks stock pops on earnings beat, buyback news

The coffee chain reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations on Thursday. (Tweet This)

Starbucks posted fiscal third-quarter earnings of 42 cents per share on $4.88 billion in revenue. Analysts forecast Starbucks would report earnings of 41 cents a share on $4.86 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

After the earnings announcement, the company's shares rose over 5 percent in extended-hours trading. The coffee giant is trading well above its $57 all-time high at current extended-hours levels.

The company also announced on Thursday that it would be repurchasing 50 million shares as part of its buyback program. This is in addition to the 11 million shares that were available for repurchase as of June 28, 2015, the company said.

Starbucks expects full-year revenue growth of 16 to 18 percent. Global comparable store sales growth will remain in the mid-single digits.

This is a breaking news article. Check back on CNBC's website for updates to this story.

Via: CNBC

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THE INSIDE STORY OF STARBUCKS'S RACE TOGETHER CAMPAIGN, NO FOAM

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has always tried to do right by his company, his customers & his country. So why did Race Together go so wrong?

It’s early April, just five days after a police officer fatally shot Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, in South Carolina, and the Starbucks CEO is on stage at Spelman College, the historically black institution of higher learning for women. He’s here for a panel discussion with United Negro College Fund chief Michael Lomax and Spelman president Beverly ­Tatum, author of the best seller Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? Schultz is seated in an awkwardly large white sofa-chair, fielding tough questions from the crowd, mostly black students who have come to hear this white, 61-year-old billionaire speak about racial inequality.

Not long ago, he might have looked more out of place. But the crowd already knows that the head of the world’s largest coffee company is willing to thrust himself into this emotionally charged issue. Only three weeks earlier, he made waves with Starbucks’s "Race Together" initiative, an effort to spark a national dialogue about race in response to the killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner—two other unarmed black men—and subsequent civil unrest. It was a bold idea that backfired. Starbucks had encouraged its baristas to write "Race Together" on the cups of coffee they served and engage customers in conversations. But critics lampooned what came across as a superficial gesture, and the backlash exploded onto social media, where Race Together received 2.5 billion impressions in less than 48 hours—much of it, Schultz complains, driven by a barrage of negative tweets filled with "visceral hate and contempt for the company and for me personally."

Via: Fast Company

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LAX shooter was 'calm, pacing, scanning the crowd' during rampage

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A police presence ( Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times / November 1, 2013 ) Police officers make their way through Terminal 3 at LAX, where a gunman opened fire, killing a TSA agent and wounding several others.

Pico Rivera residents Luz and Jose Mendez arrived at Los Angeles International Airport around 8 a.m. Friday to catch a flight to Cancun for vacation. Before they boarded, the couple decided to stop at the Terminal 3 Starbucks for coffee.

In line, they suddenly saw a group of people running toward them and then heard a series of gunshots.

“Down! Down! Down! There’s a shooter!” someone yelled.

MORE: Eyewitness accounts of LAX shooting

In the terminal food court, Demetrius Trammel was inside the Gladstone’s 4 Fish restaurant kitchen when he saw a mob of people running frantically. Some were coming in the restaurant and others running out, he said.

Then Trammel heard a gunshot and everybody dropped to the floor at the same time.

The Mendezes, meanwhile, ran toward the nearby Burger King for shelter. But the couple got separated -- Jose was herded into the kitchen and Luz into a storage room. There wasn't enough room for everyone, Jose said, and some people had to hide under tables and chairs in the Burger King dining room. Jose said he was one of about 40 people “packed” into the kitchen “like sardines.”  

That's about when Trammel said he saw a man emerge from the crowd with what appeared to be an AR-15 rifle in a shoulder holster.

The gunman calmly walked through the lobby with the gun pointed at an angle toward the ground, Trammel recalled.

"He was looking around," Trammel said. "He was calm, pacing, scanning the crowd, like he was looking for somebody specifically."

Trammel said he made brief eye contact with the gunman, then he saw three men in helmets and face masks crouching along the wall, making their way toward the gunman.

Via: LA Times

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Coffee and Gunpowder

There was a petition at my local Starbucks the other morning about the government shutdown.

Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz said he was circulating the petitions to his customers because of the “sad and striking realization that the American people have no platform with which to voice their frustration and outrage over the shutdown.” 

The Starbucks petition stated: “To our leaders in Washington, D.C., now’s the time to come together to: 1. Reopen our government to serve the people. 2. Pay our debts on time to avoid another financial crisis. 3. Pass a bipartisan and comprehensive long-term budget deal by the end of the year.”

Warning that we are “on a collision course with time,” Schultz said “the responsibility of a company of any kind is changing because we have to provide for employees, help the communities we serve, and obviously, the government is not providing the leadership it once did.”

Next to the petition were Starbucks’ latest two designer cups — a cinnamon-colored one, $8.95, “Made in Thailand,” and a glossy gray one, $9.95, “Made in China.”

The bottom line for a socially responsible company like Starbucks, according to Schultz? “We don’t want to ignore what we believe are our responsibilities in the communities we serve.”

Via: The American Spectator

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[CARTOON] Starbucks and Guns

Via: California Political Review

Why Starbucks Has To Step In On Guns

Starbucks' firearms decision is the first step to setting boundaries for America's gun-loving culture. Who will be next?

The only way to reduce gun violence in a country that won't give up its guns is to set cultural boundaries on what's acceptable and what's not. And some members of Corporate America have realized it's partly up to them to do that.

Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz this week "respectfully" asked customers not to bring guns into his establishments. The request is the latest, and perhaps highest-profile, example of firearm restrictions put in place by corporate entities for their customers. Starbucks didn't outright ban weapons on its premises, but other companies like Whole Foods and Peets Coffee and Tea have banned them.

Even in open-carry states, such as Arizona, retailers routinely ask that weapons remain off their premises. In Phoenix, for example, it is not uncommon to see a signs on restaurants stating that firearms are not permitted inside.

Gun-control advocates agree that changing the country's cultural view of guns is an important, and often overlooked, factor in curbing gun violence. Legal changes alone, like expanded background checks, won't stop gun-related suicides or accidents.

"You have to change social norms," said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "There's not enough focus on this big picture. It doesn't tend to drive enough of the conversation historically."

Corporate America, particularly the retail sector, has a lot of sway in terms of social norms. And their actions have the distinct advantage of being removed, at least a little bit, from the polarized political debate on gun control.

Think about designated smoking areas or dress codes at restaurants. It's a lot easier for a manager of a Starbucks to tell a latte drinker that it's not cool to bring his gun in with him than it is for Congress or state Legislatures to outlaw them at all coffee shops.

Via: National Journal

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Starbucks Irks 2nd Amendment Supporting Customers

Anti-gun activists claim victory after liberal chain asks people not to bring guns into stores

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s decision to ask customers to no longer bring guns into his stores is causing a firestorm on social media, with many expressing their outrage and indicating they will no longer buy coffee at the popular chain.

A review of social media suggested Starbucks may lose customers as a result of its decision.

On the company’s Facebook page, hundreds of people said they would no longer frequent Starbucks.

Lynn Schneider wrote that she would now visit a local coffee house instead.

“Bye Bye Starbucks. I’ll support small business instead of your corporate dictatorship and take my money to the little locally owned coffee house where they know me by name,” she said in a Facebook post.

“Been an avid fan for years! I’m even a more avid fan of the constitution and the Second Amendment! I will no longer patronize your store! There will be hundreds of thousands right behind me!!!!” William S. Beck wrote.

Others said that they didn’t understand the company’s decision, considering criminals will not follow Starbuck’s new policy.

According to Kyle Hoffman, “Your refusal to allow law-abiding citizens to protect themselves has cost you my business along with many other people I know. Good luck getting criminals to follow your new policy.”

Richard Ney, who said he is a Starbucks Gold Card member and a veteran, is also taking his business elsewhere.

Via: WFB

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STARBUCKS CEO: OBAMACARE 'GOOD THING FOR THE COUNTRY'

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says Obamacare is "a good thing for the country." 

The coffee giant chief's comments came during a CNBC interview with anchor Maria Bartiromo. 

"On balance, I would say the health care law, to provide health insurance for those people who did not have it, was a good thing for the country and a good thing for those people, and I would encourage them to find ways to provide the insurance and not figure out a way to either lower the hours or get around the system," said Schultz.

Schultz blasted businesses that are reducing worker hours to avoid Obamacare fines.

"Many companies today are reducing hours of full-time people to get under the minimum so they don't have to pay health care costs," said Schultz. "I just shake my head because that's not going to build long-term value and trust with your people. That is a short-term solution and ultimately is not going to add value to the enterprise, the company and your customers."

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that employers will be forced to pay $130 billion in Obamacare penalties. 

Investor's Business Daily has compiled a growing list of 258 employers who have slashed worker hours or laid off workers in reaction to the law's regulations.

Via: Breitbart

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Worried about nonexistent shootings, activists pressure Starbucks to ban guns

When was the last mass shooting at a Starbucks?

July 7, 1997. It was an attempted robbery, and three unarmed employees were killed.

Still, persuading the national coffee chain to convert all branches into gun-free zones is a top priority of the gun control group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which has called for a boycott of Starbucks this Saturday.

The company’s corporate policy allows customers to bring guns into stores in the 43 states where concealed carry is legal. For this reason, pro-gun activists occasionally hold rallies at Starbucks, where their Second Amendment rights are respected.

But supporters of gun control say no coffee drinker is safe if there could be guns around.

“Many moms are unaware that if they take their children to Starbucks, their children may be standing next to a customer who has a loaded weapon,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms, in a statement.

The group’s website clarifies that it views the accidental discharge of firearms as the paramount concern that a ban would address.

“We are as concerned about second-hand bullets as we are about second-hand smoke,” said the website — likely referring to a recent incident at a Florida Starbucks where a woman’s gun went off after it fell out of her purse, injuring one man’s leg.

Via: The Daily Caller

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