But the
company’s 2008–2009 fiscal years were challenging.
Sales at company-owned Starbucks stores
open 13 months or longer declined an average of
3 percent in 2008 and another 5 percent in 2009.
Company-wide revenues declined from $10.4 billion
in fiscal year 2008 to $9.8 billion in fiscal
year 2009. During fiscal 2009, Starbucks closed
800 underperforming company-operated stores in
the United States and an additional 100 stores in
other countries, restructured its entire operations
in Australia (including the closure of 61 stores),
and reduced the number of planned new store
openings by more than 200. Starbucks’ global
workforce was trimmed by about 6,700 employees.
The company’s cost-reduction and laborefficiency
initiatives resulted in savings of about
$580 million. Exhibit 1 shows the performance of
Starbucks’ company-operated retail stores for the
most recent five fiscal years.