Starbucks Corporation SBUX surprises everyone this week designation Reckitt Benckiser Group plc RBGLY chairman Laxman Narasimhan how Howard Schultz Successor.
Indian-born Narasimhan would take the reins of the coffee retailer at a time when the company is in transition. Founder Schultz, who temporarily returned to the role of CEO in March this year, announced a “reinvention” plan shortly after taking office. The plan aimed to address some of the fundamental issues faced by the company.
Starbucks is getting cold: The COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged 2020 has restricted businesses across the board given the lockdown restrictions in place. The effects for restaurant chains like Starbucks were all the more serious.
Even before the pandemic, the company’s focus on the concept of a “third place” was beginning to wane, Fastcompany said in a report. Third place is a sociological concept that refers to places where people spend time between home – the first place – and work, often referred to as the second place. Take-out orders from the retail chain reportedly accounted for about 80% of transactions in 2019, and sales of its more portable cold beverages outperformed their hot counterparts.
COVID could not therefore have come at a worse time, forcing the closure of most of the company’s stores for an extended period of time.
Contrary to baristas: Starbucks’ relationship with its employees also began to deteriorate, as baristas fought the company over poor wages and benefits. For them, the option was to organize in unions, which would give them bargaining power.
Efforts progressed, and baristas at a Buffalo, New York location successfully organized as a union in 2021. Last week, a Daily News report said the New York City Mayor’s Office was suing the coffee retailer for unlawfully firing a barista involved in union efforts.
As of early August, 209 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize, CNBC…
