Starbucks settles labor dispute

March 7, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO — Starbucks Corp. has entered into an informal settlement agreement with the National Labor Relations Board to resolve complaints filed by the…

Seattle's Best to open on Marine facility

March 5, 2006

Stars & Stripes: Seattle's Best Coffee will open a store at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.   The goal is to "create a relaxing, European-style coffee…

Starbucks to serve breakfast sandwiches

March 5, 2006

SEATTLE — Starbucks announced its creating a breakfast menu. In its hometown cafes, Starbucks tested toasty egg and cheese sandwiches three years ago. …

Experts create the first virtual brand

Camp Out Grill is not real. For now, it's a virtual brand.

Starbucks reports 8% same-store increase

March 2, 2006

SEATTLE — Starbucks reported an 8 percent jump in same-store sales for February amid an overall revenue bounce of 25 percent to $468 million. The cafe chain…

Caribou Coffee and Starbucks undergo new promotion campaigns

March 2, 2006

The Caribou Coffee Company has launched "Wake Up and Smell the Music," its first national multi-media advertising campaign. The company's partner in the…

Starbucks VP quits

March 1, 2006

Starbucks Corp. vice president Don MacKinnon resigned for personal reasons March 2, the company said. MacKinnon joined the company in 1999 after Starbucks…

McDonald's upscales coffee

February 28, 2006

McDonald's will roll out premium coffee at its 13,000 U.S. stores in 2006. The company said the premium coffee uses higher-quality beans — and is pricier for…

NRA: 30 months of consecutive growth

February 28, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The outlook for the restaurant industry continued to improve in January, as the National Restaurant Association's comprehensive index of…

Chipotle's IPO success influences fast-casual growth

by Julie Sturgeon — independent journalist, CEOEditor, Inc.

Fast-casual restaurants as a whole are racking up impressive numbers, but are they enough to sustain Wall Street's appetite?

Starbucks signs deal with East Coast grocer

February 22, 2006

Starbucks signed a five-year deal with Giant Food supermarkets. The grocery chain operates in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C.   According to a news…

Restaurants and cafes represent fastest-growing segment of Wi-Fi hotspots

February 22, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO — Restaurants and cafes represent the fastest-growing segment of wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) hotspots, according to recent data released by JiWire…

Baker Bros expands in Texas

February 22, 2006

DALLAS— Baker Bros American Deli, a fast-casual concept headquartered here, has executed an area development agreement with Independence Franchising of Texas…

Gift cards are big business

February 22, 2006

Using stored-value cards instead of cash is a growing trend among U.S. consumers. The Federal Reserve estimates about 20 million consumers will spend $7…

The morphing of the QSR

February 22, 2006

When the McDonald's Bistro Deli opened in New Castle, Del., the restaurant's manger saw a different crowd.   "We get people from all over because we…

Caribou Coffee announces fourth-quarter results

February 15, 2006

Caribou Coffee Company Inc., the second largest company owned gourmet coffeehouse operator in terms of coffeehouses, announced that fourth quarter of 2005 and…

Einstein Brothers set up at Pearl Harbor

February 14, 2006

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Sailors and their families will be saying 'Aloha' to bagels this spring when Sodexho opens an Einstein Brothers on the Navy base at…

Starbucks serves in China's 2nd-tier cities

February 13, 2006

HONG KONG — Starbucks Corp. is pinning its future growth strategy on an aggressive expansion into China's lesser-known cities, according to chairman Howard…

U.S. coffee market to surpass $48 billion by 2010

February 6, 2006

NEW YORK — As the second-largest U.S. import — next to oil — coffee is a hot commodity, and U.S. consumers drink more cups of java than do consumers in any…

Trading product for air time

In every episode of the Showtime series "Weeds," a character drinks It's A Grind coffee. The only catch is Showtime requested fresh-brewed coffee.