The weekly snapshot: Fresh Strategy
Starbucks, once a hot favourite, has recently felt a chill. It has witnessed decreasing sales for two consecutive quarters. Just like its counterparts in the coffee industry, Starbucks too has upped its prices owing to the pandemic and faces a boycott due to its perceived pro-Israel stance, having mistakenly sued a union expressing support for Palestine.
Notably, in America, soaring waiting times in the stores pose a challenge, up to an enormous 40 minutes according to some customer grievances, due to the struggling baristas having to balance service through apps, drive-throughs and walk-in orders.
A ray of hope this week comes from the board’s decision to replace its CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, after a tenure of just over a year, with Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Brian Niccol, which caused a jump in Starbucks share price and a reciprocal dip in Chipotle’s. Niccol is looked upon as a transformational expert capable of attracting customers even while rival chains diminish.
Endorsement of this appointment comes from ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, the man at the helm during the brand’s years of international growth, although it’s probably the opinions of the brand’s activist investors that truly carry weight. Schultz, by the way, believes that Starbucks should shift its focus back to coffee – quite a novel concept indeed.
Stats of the week: Box Office Bonanza
$1.45 billion: The box office revenue clocked by animated sequel Frozen II in 2019, outdoing the original.
$1.56 billion: The box office collection this year for another Disney sequel, Inside Out 2, making it the highest-grossing animated film ever.
3: The number of years left for the release of Disney’s Frozen III, with the film studio recently revealing the launch date to be November 2027, a solid 14 years after the original. They’ve also confirmed that a fourth instalment is in the pipeline.
Person of note for the week: Reed O’Connor.
Reed O’Connor, a US federal judge based in Fort Worth, Texas, has been identified as a shareholder in Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company, Tesla, according to a report by National Public Radio (NPR). O’Connor, who reportedly held Tesla shares worth between $15,001 and $50,000 in 2022, had been supposed to preside over two prominent cases related to Musk’s social media platform, X. One case involved allegations of an illegal advertising boycott against X by a group of advertisers, while the other was a lawsuit brought by X against the media monitoring group Media Matters. However, without revealing why, O’Connor has stepped down from the case against the advertisers, and his colleague, US district judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas, will take over instead.
Canadian singer Celine Dion has become the latest musician to publicly object to Donald Trump using her music, particularly the ballad ‘My Heart Will Go On’ from the film Titanic, at his political rallies. Various other musicians have expressed similar objections. These include The Rolling Stones, who threatened to sue when Trump repeatedly used their song ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’. Moreover, the estate of the late Sinéad O’Connor, together with Chrysalis Records, issued a statement indicating that the singer would have been appalled and taken offence at Trump’s usage of her song ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’. Johnny Marr of The Smiths responded unequivocally when a Trump rally featured ‘Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want’, declaring “Consider this s**t shut down right now”. The band REM also threatened legal action when Trump used some of their popular hits. Additionally, pop sensation Rihanna declared in 2018 that she and her team would never be involved in or near one of Trump’s “tragic rallies” after her chart-topper ‘Don’t Stop the Music’ was played. These musicians would clearly prefer if Trump refrained.