Aug. 1 at 9:33 PM
$LKNCY $SBUX Doug Kass has some excellent commentary about Starbucks -- search for "Say No to Starbucks"
"When he got to Starbucks Niccol started off by using fancy jargon to distract from the fact that Starbucks is losing to both value and premium brands/operators. Frankly, real operators don't talk like he does, hucksters do."
"I am not sure what is the best corporate comparison is, but the company is losing and the whole "Back To Starbucks" initiative seems as if the company is running out the clock so Niccol's compensation package hits and walks away with
$100 million."
"The brand is now very weak competitively — they aren't premium (artisans, local brands, etc.) and the previous also-rans are coming in hot with smaller footprints."