365 Quotes by Howard Schultz

My biggest concern is that America is drifting towards mediocrity and that people don’t recognize – and by people I’m meaning Washington – don’t recognize the sense of urgency and the fact that I don’t think this is a crisis anymore. I think it’s an emergency.

I’m optimistic about the country; I’m optimistic about the American people.

I think we are living in a time where the consumer has lots of choices, whether it’s coffee, newspapers or whatever it is. And there is parity in the market place, and as a result of that, the consumer is beginning to make decisions, not just on what things cost and the convenience of it.

I think Starbucks created a platform and, ultimately, a runway for many other companies to emulate. I suspect if we had not achieved what we have, there would have been many regional brands that would have succeeded. But I’m not sure there would have been a national brand of the scope of Starbucks.

There’s this myth that has been exacerbated by others that Starbucks means a $4 cup of coffee, which is not true.

Many companies today are reducing hours of full-time people to get under the minimum so they don’t have to pay health care costs. I just shake my head because that’s not going to build long-term value and trust with your people.

I’ve said often that every enterprise and organization has a memory. And those memories create a path for people to follow.

Beverages have to be created. And they’re created by looking at what trend is in, say, the fashion industry – what color’s hot right now.

I’m much more concerned about America than the Democratic Party.