Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz told executives in a memo last week that measures taken to fuel the coffee shop chain’s rapid expansion had led to a “watering down� of its iconic brand.
Schultz, who is credited with building Starbucks from niche player to international phenomenon, wrote on Feb. 14 that automatic espresso machines, bagged coffee and “cookie-cutter� store designs had led to a sterility at the chain that had invited competition from fast-food companies and others.
The memo, posted on the Web site http://www.starbucksgossip.com, was first reported on by the Wall Street Journal on Friday. Starbucks spokeswoman Valerie O’Neil confirmed the authenticity of the memo to Reuters.
“In order to achieve the growth, development and scale necessary to go from less than 1,000 stores to 13,000 stores and beyond, we have had to make a series of decisions that, in retrospect, have (led) to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and, what some might call the commoditization of our brand,� Schultz wrote in the memo.
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