Starbucks & The Everlasting Cup

Now, I reckon folks are plumb fascinated with this here Starbucks establishment. Seems like just yesterday it was a little beanery, and now they’re talkin’ about spreadin’ like kudzu across the nation. Last week’s report caused a right stir amongst the market men, and I confess, it did catch my ear too. This Brian Niccol, the fellow at the helm, seems to have a knack for stirrin’ things up, and not in a bad way, mind you. A year and a bit he’s been at it, and the company’s lookin’ to right itself, which is more than some of these other ventures can say.

They laid out a plan, see, stretchin’ all the way to 2028. A long view, they call it. Seems reasonable enough, though predictin’ the future is a fool’s errand, if you ask me. But tucked away in all that talk was a little nugget: another 5,000 stores in the U.S. Just 5,000, they say. But then they hint, with a wink and a nod, that if folks keep buyin’ their fancy coffee, that number could double. Double! That’s 10,000 more places to get a cup of joe, addin’ to the 18,360 they already got scattered ’round North America. It’s enough to make a man wonder if they aim to have a Starbucks on every street corner.

Now, they ain’t rushin’ things, not like some of these fly-by-night operations. They’re bein’ deliberate, see, pickin’ and choosin’ where to plant these coffee shops. Smart, I reckon. They say they’re aimin’ for revenue to grow at the same rate as sales, which is a fancy way of sayin’ they don’t want to build a lot of empty stores. They only added 128 new stores in the last quarter, bringin’ the total to 41,118 worldwide. A goodly number, that is. They’ve got 8,011 in China already, and they’re talkin’ about addin’ another 15,000 to 20,000 there. They aim to double their international count to 40,000 stores. Seems they want to caffeinate the whole world, bless their hearts.

Now, some folks might say this is gettin’ a little saturated, that there’s only so much coffee a body can drink. But I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss ’em. This Starbucks, they’ve got a knack for findin’ new customers, and a powerful brand, and a whole heap of marketing savvy. There’s no guarantee they’ll reach these ambitious goals, mind you. The world’s a fickle place, and tastes change like the wind. But there’s still a long road ahead for this coffee giant, and I, for one, wouldn’t bet against ’em. They’ve convinced folks they need a five-dollar cup of coffee, and that, my friends, is a feat of considerable magnitude. It’s enough to make a simple man ponder the mysteries of human desire… and maybe have another cup himself.

2026-02-04 20:22

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