Creating Jobs?

Starbucks has distributed more than 500,000 red, white and blue wristbands in the last three months, and, no, it's not just because the coffee giant is feeling patriotic.

The wristbands, sold for $5 each, are intended to fund loans to small businesses, nonprofits and other organizations that will create American jobs.

New figures released by the company on Thursday, show the ongoing Create Jobs for USA program has so far raised more than $2 million. Coupled with $5 million in seed money already donated by Starbucks, the company expects the program to create at least 2,300 jobs.

That said, the money takes time to trickle down to business owners and heads of nonprofits. To get from the Starbucks cash register to a small business or agency, the donations first pass through the Opportunity Finance Network, which then gives grants to community development financial institutions, or CDFIs. Those lenders are tasked with doling out low-interest loans to small businesses and nonprofits in need.

So far, 278 loans have been made in 31 states across the country.

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Starbucks or McDonald's

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$11K Coffee Maker

The Clover, which runs about $11,000, makes one cup at a time and aims to coax each of the hundreds of flavors known to reside in the average coffee bean. In addition to brewing a complex flavor, the by-the-cup versatility means a wider array of beans can be used -creating a top shelf coffee menu of sorts.

tarbucks says the system is "one of the most significant innovations in coffee brewing since the introduction of the espresso machine" and says its introduction of the system with some small-batch beans is a "key initiative in transforming the company."...

"We committed to our customers that we would reinvent coffee, and once they taste coffee brewed from the Clover, we know they will want to come back for more," Aimee Johnson, vice president of Starbucks Strategic Coffee Initiatives, said in a statement.

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Starbucks Closing 600 Stores

As many as 12,000 Starbucks workers will lose their jobs when the company begins closing 600 U.S. stores this summer.

The Seattle coffee company is cutting 5 percent of its U.S. locations as part of a wide-ranging effort to boost its bottom line and its stock price. The chain is accelerating international growth.

Most customers whose Starbucks stores close will be a short walk from a caffeine fix, the company said, because many of the unprofitable stores were being cannibalized by nearby Starbucks locations.

The company will try to find jobs for people within Starbucks, but that could be difficult with fewer than 350 new U.S. stores expected to open in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

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Is Starbucks a Competitive Force?

Don't Fear Starbucks: Why the franchise actually helps mom and pop coffeehouses.

By Taylor Clark

Hyman feared his life's work would be trampled underfoot. Starbucks even promised as much. "They just flat-out said, 'If you don't sell out to us, we're going to surround your stores,' " Hyman recalled. "And lo and behold, that's what happened—and it was the best thing that ever happened to us."

…Strange as it sounds, the best way to boost sales at your independently owned coffeehouse may just be to have Starbucks move in next-door…

… Ward Barbee, the recently passed founder of the coffee trade magazine Fresh Cup, saw this happen scores of times. "Anyone who complains about having a Starbucks put in next to you is crazy," he told me. "You want to welcome the manager, give them flowers. It should be the best news that any local coffeehouse ever had."…

…According to recent figures from the Specialty Coffee Association of America, 57 percent of the nation's coffeehouses are still mom and pops. Just over the five-year period from 2000 to 2005—long after Starbucks supposedly obliterated indie cafes—the number of mom and pops grew 40 percent, from 9,800 to nearly 14,000 coffeehouses. (Starbucks, I might add, tripled in size over that same time period. Good times all around.) So much for the sharp decline in locally owned coffee shops. And prepare yourself for some bona fide solid investment advice: The failure rate for new coffeehouses is a mere 10 percent, according to the market research firm Mintel, which means the vast majority of cafes stay afloat no matter where Starbucks drops its stores. Compare that to the restaurant business, where failure is the norm…

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Has Higher Groundz been impacted?

Coffee Sales Driving McDonald's Growth

McDonald's Corp., the world's largest restaurant company, said October sales rose 6.9 percent as consumers bought more cinnamon rolls and coffee in the U.S....

McDonald's has posted monthly sales gains the past 4 1/2 years by adding iced coffee and lattes to two-thirds of its U.S. restaurants to compete with Starbucks Corp....

The company started selling a stronger coffee blend in 2006 to win customers from Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain. McDonald's is testing an expanded beverage lineup, including lattes...

Global revenue increased 10 percent to $17 billion, McDonald's said in a regulatory filing Oct. 19.

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Once again conumers are benefiting from competition