Starbucks has recently been struggling with declining sales and profits – and the current boss has not been able to turn things around. His successor also runs a restaurant chain.
Starbucks is getting a new boss who has recently been more concerned with burritos than coffee: Brian Niccol was previously at the helm of Chipotle, a chain specializing in Mexican food. After just over a year, he replaces the hapless Laxman Narasimhan, who had failed to boost sales with new products.
Niccol, on the other hand, managed to keep Chipotle's business going even at a time when American consumers are cutting back on their visits to fast-food restaurants. Starbucks shares, which have been under pressure recently, rose by more than a fifth after Niccol's appointment. Chipotle's share price, on the other hand, fell by around 13 percent at times in early US trading.
Under Narasimhan, Starbucks recently missed Wall Street expectations with declines in revenue and profit – and had to lower its sales forecast for this year twice.
Starbucks patriarch Howard Schultz, who has held the CEO position several times over the past decades, resorted to unusual public criticism in May. The coffee houses – especially in the home market of the USA – must focus on a better experience for customers, he wrote on the career network LinkedIn. “The answer lies not in the data, but in the stores.”
Narasimhan's latest plan included speeding up service during the hot morning hours and luring customers into the stores with new drinks and food.
