Washington's efforts at financial reform keep having strange and unintended consequences. In response to a law that was meant to lower excessive debit card transaction fees on merchants, Visa and Mastercard found a way to raise the fees on a host of small businesses.
The longtime coffee rivals may be discussing a merger that could provide the smaller player with a boost in the single-cup market. And Peet's, which has longstanding deals with grocery chains, could steer Starbucks towards a smoother grocery distribution strategy.
As the economy improves, Americans have begun splurging again. But they're limiting their indulgences to haircuts, casual dining and coffee, while continuing to forego many bigger expenditures, like vacations and dining at expensive restaurants.
Starbucks said Wednesday that it plans to grow its worldwide sales by expanding its 220 stores in mainland China to "at least" 1,500 by 2015. The world's largest coffee chain also is planning to add stores in Brazil, Russia and India.
Starbucks drew more customers to its stores and got them to spend more money, boosting its fiscal fourth-quarter profit 86% from the same quarter a year ago. Same-store sales grew 8% in that time.
Starbucks has accelerated fiscal fourth-quarter same-store sales growth thanks to increasing demand for breakfast snacks and higher-priced coffee. That's the conclusion of a UBS analyst, who raised his stock price-target on the company's stock today.
