According to a report in the Seattle Times, Howard Schultz, the current CEO of Starbucks, will step down from his role at the coffee chain next month. This comes following the collapsing brand image as a direct result of Schultz’s political virtue signaling to hire 10,000 refugees and avoid hiring Americans.
The refugee announcement followed the first President Trump temporary travel-ban and many Trump supporters boycotted the coffee chain. In a letter to employees Schultz claimed the promise of the American Dream was ‘being called into question’ and ‘the civility and human rights we have all taken for granted for so long are under attack.’
However, with the successful installment of Tom Perez as head of the DNC – the timing and political transparency indicate Howard Schultz could also be positioning himself for a 2020 White House run.
Schultz has long been a favorite candidate for the professional political donor class within the DNC and was a top-tier contender for Clinton’s VP in 2016. The DNC will always position the winning candidate as one they are able to control.
19 Mar 2017
[…]
He will continue as executive chairman of the company.
In the announcement of his decision to step down as CEO, Schultz stated that he “will shift his focus to innovation, design, and development of Starbucks Reserve Roasteries around the world, expansion of the Starbucks Reserve retail store format and the company’s social impact initiatives and focus on Starbucks next wave of retail innovation.”
Schultz’ resignation as CEO follows his recent commitment to hire 10,000 refugees at Starbucks over the next five years as an act of protest against President Trump’s temporary travel halt. Shortly after this announcement, a YouGov survey showed that the public perception of the Starbucks brand was declining.
In the week before the company’s commitment to hire 10,000 refugees, 30 percent of the people surveyed stated that they would consider spending money at Starbucks. After Starbucks’ pro-refugee statement, that number fell to 24 percent. Another study performed by the Swiss financial services company Credit Suisse stated that Starbucks’ comments had negatively impacted sales and damaged the company’s brand.
“Our work shows a sudden drop in brand sentiment following announcement of the refugee hiring initiative on Jan. 29th, to flattish from a run-rate of ~+80 (on an index of -100 to +100). Net sentiment has since recovered, but has seen significant volatility in recent weeks,” equity analyst Jason West said, according to CNBC.
“Schultz’ departure from Starbucks as CEO also comes shortly after it was reported by the New York Times that former presidential adviser David Gergen stated that “Howard Schultz is definitely being pursued” to run for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2020.”
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/03/19/starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz-to-step-down-in-april/
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Oh no, he can’t continue at Starbucks in any capacity and also run for POTUS. That’s a conflict of interest and he might use his influence in politics to benefit his corporation!Having ties to a major corporation that has the initiative to make money isn’t befitting the President. He would have to sever all ties and disavow any connection to Corporate America, right, Elizabeth Warren? Will he vow to sell all holdings in Starbucks and dissolve any other profit making investments prior to announcing his candidacy?
BTW, can we see his tax returns now? Did he serve in the military? Does anyone currently serving in the military support his for president? No doubt the MSM is gathering all of his off the record comments made going back 20 years, and will soon produce a list of everyone he ever dated or wanted to date. How many homes does he own? What’s the status of his mental health?
Have his personal, business and moral backgrounds been thoroughly vetted by Meryl Streep, Katy Perry and Rosie O’Donnell? Has he ever been spotted in a bar ordering a Black Russian or had thoughts of taking a vacation to Moscow? Will he admit under oath that he has never even said the name “Vladimir Putin”? Has he ever been accused of taking unfair advantage in any business deal and if yes, has the ‘victim’ been signed yet for a book deal and has Michael Moore been contracted to do the documentary? Does Chris Matthews get a tingle in his leg when he hears him speak? Did he ever borrow money from his father and if so, did he lay it back and was there a signed contract to prove it all? Let’s get down to the really important stuff now.
Next up to bat, Mark Cuban, followed by Ophrah Winfrey.
For all the hogwash baloney the Left has spewed about what a horrible idea it is for a non-politician businessman to seek the presidency, they sure are eager to trot some of their own out as potential contenders.
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“… No doubt the MSM is gathering all of his off the record comments made going back 20 years, and will soon produce a list of everyone he ever dated or wanted to date…”
One thing’s for sure – the only one of those things he’ll be talking about grabbing will be his own.
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farmhand, best post of the day!
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He had to get his name and his politics away from his brand, which is the Obamacare of coffee.
He will have to get his foot surgically removed from his mouth to run for President.
Capitalism! It’s a grand thing.
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Uh oh…doing business with the Russians,
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OK, that is seriously funny! We have so much material to work with but the Russian connection will be most fruitful. :-). We won’t even need to take time to write our own statements, just dredge up stuff that was written about Trump and change a few key words. This is too easy 🙂
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“Social impact initiatives,” huh? Does that mean more hare-brained schemes like his “hire the Muslim refugees” initiative, or his “if you support traditional marriage, don’t buy your coffee here” schtick? That little remark, which, should he enter politics, is virtually certain of being used against him, will be enough to put him on the bottom for good. DNC will wear it like a badge of honor. There is another side to this, though. How can Keith Ellison, with his VERY traditional view of marriage, and who is almost certain to be mixed up somehow in the administration of the next Democrat presidential campaign, stand behind that remark and still call himself a Muslim? He’ll have lots of folks like him, in the rank and file, very loudly reminding him of that.
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Barrista jobs for jihsdis.
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Trump will roast Howard Schultz’s beans for him if he runs in 2020.
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I know. I can already see the tweets. Failing coffee salesman. Who can’t sell coffee? Sad. Lol
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looking at this guy and knowing how out of touch he is, I would hope he tries for 2020! lol Bring it
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So far for 2020 Dems we’ve got Oprah, Zuckerburg, Gillebrand, Booker, Hillary, and now this clown. How long til Michelle is announced?
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When they are say is she is tanned, rested and ready, you know Hillary doesn’t have it any more. At 36 in 2020 Zuckerburg is too young. He would do worse than Rubio. Opah would be 66 in 2020 but she has been out of the news and limelight for several years. The other two senators could make a run.
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Michelle is waiting to announce at one of the Hollywood awards dog and pony shows, after Valerie gives her the go-ahead.
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Don’t forget Fauxcahontas (Elizabeth Warren) as a likely POTUS candidate.
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The Dems will most likely be reduced to running a “placeholder” candidate in ’20 (think Mondale) versus the Trump Train.
Howie the kids’ coffee man from Far Left Seattle would fit this bill for them quite nicely.
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Can Jeff Bezos be far behind?
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I know I will never patronize Starbucks again. Good luck.
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Think I have been there 3 times in my life.
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I do buy the Starbucks Coffee Frappuccino bottles at Costco.
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You can buy a frother for a few bucks, make your own and save a bunch of money.
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I used to buy a lot of Mocha’s and now make them at home using Dutch Bros Coffe, amazing!!! My wife drinks there K-cups. They are from the Pacific Northwest and you can buy the coffee from their website (long ways out, but they had a 50% off all their coffee on Cyber Monday last year and I stocked up).
Don’t know their politics, but we’ve been to several in Oregon and on a recent trip to Fresno, CA (the line was yuge!!!! each time I stopped during our trip) and the staff is amazing. They talk to you and find out how your doing. Last year when we left Oregon and we’re headed home, I told the “bro”rista that we were headed home to Alabama when he asked what we were doing and he took my stamp card that only had 4 stamps on it and filled it up. He said “have a drink on us when you come back”.
Everyone employee I’ve encounter has been very friendly, upbeat and is enthused to be at work.
Here is a great article about one of the founding brothers and how they are expanding by only offering franchises to top employees from Forbes (the other one died from ALS):
https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2016/06/15/the-coffee-cult-how-dutch-bros-is-turning-its-bro-istas-into-wealthy-franchisees/#406c9a313694
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Seattle Roasters was much better than starbucks. I miss it.
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Me too.
I’ve been done with Starbucks for quite a while.
One of my sons runs a Starbucks in Illinois.
I’m still done with Starbucks.
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So this dummy is saying human rights are being trampled because we want vetted refugees and legal immigration? What planet am i on?
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I am trying to recall my dysfunctional thinking when I was a Den. I remember thinking (before I moved to Chicago) that all people on welfare were in need. Because I had a desire to work and be self sufficient I mistakenly though everyone else did too. So I’m guessing that many Den voters think refugees need help. All of them. When they see the word “refugee” they probably conjure up the classic images of suffering women and children and that dead toddler on the beach,. They seem to be incapable of comprehending that many refugees are healthy young adults who ought to stay in their own countries to fight rather than behaving like welfare cheats sucking up all of the handouts they can get. We need some good factual examples of all of the benefits refugees receive, how much money they are given, how their housing is subsidized, etc. That might wake a few Dems up. All Dems aren’t bad, some are just lacking facts.
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Want facts-go to refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com Thousand of hours Ann has spent putting together just that-numbers and lotsa information. If people really knew what these people are doing with our taxpayer money they would flip their lids. Problem is dems don’t care about the facts-they are purposely delusional. They couldn’t handle the bubble burst.
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Never been a fan of Schultz. Haven’t stepped into an SBUX since he made those “last straw” comments. I hope his business continues to suffer for his arrogance.
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Schultz needs to get a second circumcision from his rabbi.
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Within a 2 block radius of me, there are 4 Starbucks.
That’s pretty fishy.
I think it’s a drug money laundring operation.
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Running for POTUS? Would that not be the most entertaining thing! Liberalism as a mental disease at it’s finest.
Popcorn for that one.
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He did such a great job ruining star*ucks just think of what he can do for our country.
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He is a nobody as far as name recognition which can be important in politics.
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From starbucks to nobucks,all because of a liberal CEO! All he needed to do was sell coffee! The liberals never learn!
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Perfect democrat candidate. Qualifications: either come from nowhere having accomplished nothing or left total chaos and ruin in the wake of your so-called “accomplishments.”
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Shultz just opened his mouth to soon. They are greedy.
CF+ Rwanda coffee+ Starsucks is interesting
We taxpayers are going to be paying part of his slave employees. Like yogurt.
Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), which offers a tax credit of up to $2,400 per refugee. Additionally, according to ANAIdaho ”the Idaho Department of Labor pays up to 50% of a refugee’s salary up to $5,000 for an agreed upon period of training,” as well as “the full salary for up to 520 hours of supplemental employment for a refugee.”
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As I recall it, the original Starbucks announcement (months ago) stated that they would be hiring 2000 over a period of years and spread over Starbucks stores in several countries.
When did this change?
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Yep the untold hidden treasures er benefits to the corps hiring cheap refugee labor. Businesses can also apply for grants as well as the refugees for mo money.
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Even workplace progressives don’t like Starbucks
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