It’s probably the world’s best-known coffee chain but just over a year ago, business wasn’t doing well. Sales had slipped, customers were drifting away and the buzz had gone.
Newly-arrived CEO Brian Niccols was handed a tough task: stop the fall and make the coffee shops somewhere people wanted to return to.
In an interview with our North America business correspondent Michelle Fleury, he explains why customers are returning and seem to be giving the company another shot.
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Producers: John Mervin and Justin Bones
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(Picture: A customer holds a Starbucks cup outside one of the company's coffee shops in San Francisco, California, US, on Tuesday, the 27th of January 2026. Starbucks Corp released its earnings figures on 28th of January, which revealed that the company had recorded its first sales growth at established stores in the US for two years. Credit: Getty Images)