coffee shop

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.

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 on Tuesday said it would give away a free 12-ounce bag of its ground house-blend coffee to any customer not satisfied with its Via instant coffee during the next seven months.

Starbucks is partnering with India-based coffee-bean provider Tata Coffee to help it open its first retail stores in India. According to the agreement, Tata will help Starbucks source and roast beans, as well as develop the new stores.

Starbucks, the world's largest coffee-shop chain, on Wednesday unveiled a new logo that retains its iconic green mermaid but no longer includes the word "coffee," reflecting the company's efforts to expand sales through a broader array of menu and consumer-product items.

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.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we are saddened, stunned by the terrible news surrounding a shooting of four police officers this weekend at a coffee shop in Parkland, Wash. All four died, leaving a total of nine children and three spouses behind. With the horrifying events outside of Tacoma as a...

Small business owners, sole proprietors and students who call the local coffee shop their office are no longer welcome, at least according to this Wall Street Journal article. And if it's true, this trend will be another nail in the coffin of the battered independent coffee shop industry. Why do...