Starbucks Announces Delivery Option Amid Retail Uncertainty
Starbucks will introduce delivery service to New York and its hometown Seattle later this year, the company is set to announce at its annual meeting today. And the TAMI-heavy Empire State Building tenants will be the very first to test the option, an apt trial audience for an initiative aimed at young, tech-obsessed customers. The coffee champ will also broaden mobile ordering and e-payment capabilities. Starbucks is hardly the first chain retailer to curry favor with the next generation of artisanal everything fiends. And the announcement comes amid some speculation that the company, which has roughly 12K stores nationwide, could contract in markets where even overpriced lattes can't pay skyrocketing rents.
Meanwhile, Starbucks' in-store attempt—genuine or not—at stimulating conversation about America's frayed race relations has prompted widespread criticism online, leading one spokesman to temporarily delete his Twitter account.
