Tasked with reassuring investors that the company’s coffee shops are still hugely popular in the U.S., Niccol also has to contend with baristas and hardcore Starbucks customers who say they want plenty of changes.
Baristas complain about what they say are chronic understaffing and poor pay and benefits, and their inability to easily ban aggressive customers from Starbucks stores. Zealous customers want consistently good coffee.
Shares of the company were down about 5% in premarket trading.
On Tuesday, after Starbucks reported a 6% fall in fourth-quarter same-store sales in the U.S. and pulled its earnings guidance for the coming fiscal year, Niccol said baristas need to be supported to provide “exceptional service” to customers.
“To succeed, we need to address staffing in our stores, remove bottlenecks, and simplify things for our baristas,” he said in a video statement.
Liv Ryan, a barista and union organizer at a Starbucks in Long Island, New York, said that Niccol should put “an end to short staffing.”
