What Starbucks’s new CEO has changed, and what he says is next on his list

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Notice anything different at Starbucks these days? Brian Niccol hopes so. Starbucks’s chief executive spent his first full calendar year on the job plowing millions of dollars into improving the experience of Starbucks stores through barista training, outfitting stores with ceramic mugs and replacing faulty power outlets.

He rewrote the guidebook for greeting and serving consumers, restricted cafe bathrooms to paying customers and returned condiment bars to the public. And he closed hundreds of U.S. locations.

Now Niccol is going further. He wants to install more comfortable seating at hundreds of U.S. locations and make it simpler to pick up drinks.

He aims to better keep food in stock, wants the chain to offer superior customer service, and thinks the messages written on cups can be meaningful, too. Investors want to know how his strategy will translate into growth. Starbucks has had a long stretch of stagnant sales, and the chain’s core profitability last year fell to some of the lowest levels since the pandemic.

Starbucks said that the work is starting to pay off, with record sales days during November holiday promotions, and new products helping to attract customers. The chain’s shares are up around 16% so far this month, outpacing a 4% increase for an S&P 500 subindex of restaurant stocks. Niccol is set to unveil his longer-term financial goals Thursday during his first investor meeting as CEO.

Here’s a look at his Starbucks overhaul, from the front door to customers’ follow-up reviews. Starbucks isn’t as ubiquitous as it once was: The chain runs around 10,000 U.S. locations, about 400 fewer than it did last summer, company figures show.