One day in April 2018, two black men walked into a Starbucks hotel in Philadelphia, USA, to wait for a friend. This could happen in any city around the world, but because they wanted to borrow restrooms, it caused the worst public relations disaster in Starbucks history.
They were stopped outside the toilet that day because the clerk claimed that it could only be used by customers who consumed in the store. While the two men continued to wait for their friends in the store, the manager chose to call the police, and soon the police arrived and took the two men away.
For Americans, two young African-Americans were arrested at Starbucks for no reason for not spending money, and there were too many sensitive points in the incident that could trigger emotions, which quickly triggered anti-racist protests and a wave of resistance to Starbucks.
In the end, Starbucks resolved the incident with an apology and compensation. After that, Starbucks specifically found an afternoon, and more than 8,000 stores across the United States closed to study so that all employees could correctly understand the issue of race.
The Philadelphia incident in Starbucks made Americans feel angry. Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, has long claimed to make Starbucks a humane "third space" rather than just selling coffee.
The offensive details revealed by the Philadelphia incident run counter to Schultz's philosophy. But it's not fair to accuse Schultz of being "hypocritical," as he officially stepped down as Starbucks' global CEO as chairman of the honorary board of directors a year before the Philadelphia incident.
Starbucks led by Schultz, the company's success in performance has long been obvious to all. If there is any word that can describe the entrepreneur's personal style, "three views are particularly positive" may be appropriate.
Another tragedy that occurred in a Starbucks store shows Schultz's personal style of doing things. In 1997, a shooting occurred in a Starbucks in downtown Washington, D.C., killing three employees, including the store manager. Schultz, who was on vacation at the time, immediately cancelled his vacation and flew to Washington, where he spent the following week not only personally comforting his family and attending funerals, but also visiting dozens of washington branches to calm people's minds.
Under Schultz's leadership, Starbucks has insisted on providing insurance for part-time employees and employees' parents (many companies do not offer similar benefits), also because of his childhood experience. When he was 7 years old, his father lost his job as a truck driver due to a fracture, and he had no insurance or compensation at the time.
Strictly speaking, Schultz is not the founder of Starbucks, but there is no doubt that he is the father of Starbucks. In 1987, Schultz took over Starbucks, which had only six stores at the time, turning the coffee shop into a large-scale global business. Around the time of the financial crisis, Schultz led Starbucks out of its trough and planned and managed Starbucks' high-end businesses, including Starbucks Reserve and Bakery.
Schultz, who came from a poor background, is almost the perfect embodiment of the American dream. Starbucks has taken a "progressivist" stance on homosexual equality, equal pay for equal work, and race relations. In order to be able to create a third space that serves all across gender, racial and other inequalities, Schultz formed a diverse Board of Directors of Starbucks. Five of the company's 13 directors are women, well above the average for large U.S. companies. In addition, the board of directors includes African Americans, Indians, Mexicans, and two Chinese.
In a sense, this philosophy has also made Starbucks' global expansion smooth sailing, and even Schultz personally has become a great spokesperson for globalization.
As early as 1999, Starbucks opened its first store in China. Considering that coffee culture would take a long time to cultivate in China, this decision was bold at the time, but Schultz proved his foresight. To date, Starbucks has 4,800 stores and more than 58,000 employees in China. China is one of Starbucks' fastest-growing markets and the second-largest after the United States, contributing a fifth of the company's revenue.
Schultz announced his complete retirement in June 2018. Currently, he is a co-founder of the Schultz Family Fund and the Emes Project. According to Schultz's personal website, the two institutions are committed to "improving the morality of American society" and "reducing inequality"... Or it could be understood this way, to regain the American Dream.
Schultz once called himself a "lifelong Democrat." However, he quit the Democratic Party in 2020 (slamming the party's claim to impose heavy taxes on the wealthy) and ran for president of the United States as an independent candidate.
Ahead of the November 2020 election, Schultz called on Americans to exercise their right to vote and stated on his personal website that he and his wife, Sheri, would vote for Biden. This may be a sign of his easing relations with the Democratic Party, or it may be because of his "downturned" stance. Since Trump became president of the United States in 2016, Schultz has made no secret of his criticism of Trump, and the two have also clashed on Twitter.
Schultz opposes the trade war, arguing that "raising taxes on Chinese products will not help the United States improve unemployment" and that "China and the United States are allies, not enemies."
China remains Starbucks' most important overseas market. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 ended September 2020, Starbucks China's sales were $814 million, a 7% year-on-year increase despite the impact of the pandemic. Schultz had predicted that China would overtake the United States as Starbucks' largest market.
At the same time, it is also a very difficult market for Starbucks. When the "first cup of milk tea in autumn" and "Starbucks atmosphere group" have been on the hot search, it also reflects that in the fiercely competitive Chinese market, Starbucks has been in decline for more than 20 years.
Schultz, who has long since retired, may still be a key figure in the future. Although he is no longer directly involved in the day-to-day affairs of Starbucks, Schultz, 67, still has some influence in U.S. politics and business. For example, he was close to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose father, Gates Sr., helped Schultz buy Starbucks in the 1980s.
As an "old friend of the Chinese people," Schultz said in an interview with the China Development Forum last November: "The Chinese dream and the American dream have certain similarities."
Like well-known entrepreneurs such as Musk, Schultz has a special talent, that is, he can create popular hotspots without spending money. The last time he demonstrated this skill was in early 2008, when he returned to starbucks as CEO and decided to close stores nationwide for three and a half hours, allowing all employees to focus on making coffee during this time, "back to our historical tradition."