Howard Schultz Quotes

I am concerned about any attrition in customer traffic at Starbucks, but I don't want to use the economy, commodity prices or consumer confidence as an excuse. We must maintain a value proposition to our customers as well as differentiate the Starbucks Experience. That is the key.

- Howard Schultz

I think there is probably no better person to aspire to emulate than Steve Jobs and what he has done at Apple in terms of his leadership, his innovation, not settling for mediocrity.

- Howard Schultz

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.

- Howard Schultz

Even though people are under economic pressure, they still want to support those brands with values that are compatible with their own.

- Howard Schultz

In life, you can blame a lot of people and you can wallow in self-pity, or you can pick yourself up and say, 'Listen, I have to be responsible for myself.'

- 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.

- Howard Schultz

The hardest thing about being a leader is demonstrating or showing vulnerability... When the leader demonstrates vulnerability and sensibility and brings people together, the team wins.

- Howard Schultz

We have a big opportunity in China. We think the number of stores here can rival the number in North America.

- Howard Schultz

I'm not losing any sleep over Dunkin Donuts.

- Howard Schultz

I'm a voracious reader.

- Howard Schultz

When it comes to Starbucks, I take every threat very personally.

- Howard Schultz

I tried to build a company my father would have been proud to work for, that he would have looked back on and said, 'That's the company that honoured me, even though I don't have an education'. I wanted to build a company that had a conscience.

- Howard Schultz

If Vancouver did not succeed as Starbucks from '87 on, our entire international business, which is now thousands of stores and a significant amount of growth and profit, may not have existed.

- Howard Schultz

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.

- Howard Schultz

Starbucks is not an advertiser; people think we are a great marketing company, but in fact we spend very little money on marketing and more money on training our people than advertising.

- Howard Schultz

The evolving social and digital media platforms and highly innovative and relevant payment capabilities are causing seismic changes in consumer behavior and creating equally disruptive opportunities for business.

- Howard Schultz

I think the currency of leadership is transparency. You've got to be truthful. I don't think you should be vulnerable every day, but there are moments where you've got to share your soul and conscience with people and show them who you are, and not be afraid of it.

- Howard Schultz

My son is trying to be a sports writer, and my daughter is a college student. She wants to be a comedy writer, and she's at film school. I discouraged both of them early on from getting involved in Starbucks. I didn't think it would be fair; plus, they didn't have any interest anyway.

- Howard Schultz

You walk into a retail store, whatever it is, and if there's a sense of entertainment and excitement and electricity, you wanna be there.

- Howard Schultz

On balance, I am a supporter of the minimum wage going up. We've got to be very careful what we wish for because some employers - and there could be a lot of them - will be scared away from hiring new people or creating incremental hours for part-time people as a result of that wage going up.

- Howard Schultz

My father had a series of blue-collar jobs and never made more than $20,000 a year. When I was seven, he got injured on a job. That was a very important point - because of the injury, he couldn't walk, and the company he was working for did not pay him. There was no compensation. So there was no money and no food.

- Howard Schultz

Anybody can leverage celebrity for profit.

- Howard Schultz

For Starbucks, there will be no shortage of the highest-quality arabica beans. I suspect that for some others there could potentially be a problem, not in the near term, but over time.

- Howard Schultz

Our history is based on extending the brand to categories within the guardrails of Starbucks.

- Howard Schultz

I've traveled around the world, and what's so revealing is that, despite the differences in culture, politics, language, how people dress, there is a universal feeling that we all want the same thing. We deeply want to be respected and appreciated for our differences.

- Howard Schultz

Starbucks is in my blood. It is such a part of me that letting it unravel simply was not an option.

- Howard Schultz

Americans reading the paper, listening to the news every single day, and all you hear is things are getting worse and worse. And that has a psychological effect on consumer confidence. That's what consumer confidence is.

- Howard Schultz

I do think - as self-serving as it sounds - that I was the right person, given the very, very strong headwind we had from the economy and our own issues, to come back and rewrite the future of the company.

- Howard Schultz

I believe life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It's seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It's seeing what other people don't see And pursuing that vision.

- Howard Schultz

We can't wait for Washington. Business leaders are going to have to galvanize their own constituencies and do everything they can to demonstrate confidence in the economy, and I think that can be contagious.

- Howard Schultz

The response to the Starbucks brand has been phenomenal in our international markets.

- Howard Schultz

Business leaders cannot be bystanders.

- Howard Schultz

The future of America is not an entitlement. We have been given a treasure chest of gifts and opportunities, but some people are being left behind, and success is not sustainable unless it is shared.

- Howard Schultz

Success in the United States is not an entitlement in China. You have to go there and earn it, and earn it the right way.

- Howard Schultz

Pouring espresso is an art, one that requires the barista to care about the quality of the beverage.

- Howard Schultz

The growth of the company and the license that Starbucks has is to participate in other food and beverage opportunities. We have a global business... and in many parts of the world, tea is much, much bigger than coffee, and we're going to bring tea and bring our capability and our understanding of what we've done for coffee to tea.

- Howard Schultz

Great opportunities can be and have been created during tough economic times.

- Howard Schultz

The premium single-cup segment is the fastest-growing business within the global coffee industry.

- Howard Schultz

In the 1960s, if you introduced a new product to America, 90% of the people who viewed it for the first time believed in the corporate promise. Then 40 years later if you performed the same exercise, less than 10% of the public believed it was true. The fracturing of trust is based on the fact that the consumer has been let down.

- Howard Schultz

We are witnessing a seismic change in consumer behavior. That change is being brought about by technology and the access people have to information.

- Howard Schultz

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.

- Howard Schultz

I am concerned about any attrition in customer traffic at Starbucks, but I don't want to use the economy, commodity prices or consumer confidence as an excuse.

- Howard Schultz

Starbucks has stores in America in many, many communities that are governed by many, many different municipalities. Starbucks cannot dictate to a municipality in Cincinnati or Kansas City or Sacramento how or why or when there should be a recycling program.

- Howard Schultz

Most business people today are not going to invest in the uncertainty that exists in America.

- Howard Schultz

I was working probably at the age of 10, when I had my first paper route. I had every different kind of job you could possibly imagine as a young kid.

- Howard Schultz

Companies should not have a singular view of profitability. There needs to be a balance between commerce and social responsibility... The companies that are authentic about it will wind up as the companies that make more money.

- Howard Schultz

There's an energy and excitement when you're building a company. You have so much tail wind. You're planting new seeds. But it's also scary, because there's no safety net.

- Howard Schultz

When you start a company, it's a singular focus. You have the wind at your back.

- Howard Schultz

You can't build any kind of organization if you're not going to surround yourself with people who have experience and skill base beyond your own.

- Howard Schultz

I think if you're an entrepreneur, you've got to dream big and then dream bigger.

- Howard Schultz

Social and digital media is a bullet train, and that bullet train is not coming home.

- Howard Schultz

I'm in a different position than most CEO's. I'm a founder. I'm not a hired CEO. Now, I can be fired by the board, but most CEO's are hired by the board.

- Howard Schultz

I do feel, in a sense, the rules of engagement for citizenship has changed, and we must encourage other people to speak up and to take action.

- Howard Schultz

I was born on the other side of the tracks, in public housing in Brooklyn, New York. My dad never made more than $20,000 a year, and I grew up in a family that lost health insurance. So I was scarred at a young age with understanding what it was like to watch my parents lose access to the American dream.

- Howard Schultz

Starbucks has changed the rules of engagement for the music industry.

- Howard Schultz

We live in an age where everything is based on the short term.

- Howard Schultz

The Starbucks customer and the Teavana customer are two very different customers, two different need states that are highly complimentary.

- Howard Schultz

Managing and navigating through a financial crisis is no fun at all.

- Howard Schultz

I could've just walked away but I never could have forgiven myself to allow Starbucks to drift into mediocrity or not be relevant. I just couldn't be a bystander.

- Howard Schultz

My parents really wanted me to get out of New York, be exposed to other people, other ways of life.

- Howard Schultz

When I first discovered in the early 1980s the Italian espresso bars in my trip to Italy, the vision was to re-create that for America - a third place that had not existed before. Starbucks re-created that in America in our own image; a place to go other than home or work. We also created an industry that did not exist: specialty coffee.

- Howard Schultz

I think the most important thing that I think everyone in America must have is belief that wherever they live, whatever station they have in life, that the American dream is alive and well. I think the fracturing of trust and confidence is in the American dream.

- Howard Schultz

I probably have about four or five cups of coffee a day. I make myself an espresso macchiato when I wake, which is a shot of espresso and just a dollop of steamed milk. Then, if I'm going to do some work at home, I would make myself a French press. It's the best way to make conventional coffee.

- Howard Schultz

With a population of more than 600 million people, an emerging middle class that is driving strong consumption, and a robust and resilient economy, Southeast Asia presents a compelling growth opportunity for Starbucks.

- Howard Schultz

Any business today that embraces the status quo as an operating principle is going to be on a death march.

- Howard Schultz

I think people will walk into the Starbucks store and overnight recognize the significant difference between what Starbucks represents day-in and day-out and all the other coffee companies that have been serving coffee in India for so many years.

- Howard Schultz

Cutting prices or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy.

- Howard Schultz

Cutting prices or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy. The other side of it is that you can't cut enough costs to save your way to prosperity.

- Howard Schultz

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

- Howard Schultz

In many places where coffee is grown, deforestation is a major issue. With Starbucks' position in the marketplace and the respect and relationships we have, we can - and have, in some cases - been able to educate and influence people.

- Howard Schultz

London, a city where creativity and innovation have always flourished, provides a significant home for Starbucks and a significant gateway into Europe.

- Howard Schultz

People have come to me over the years and said to me: 'I admire the culture of Starbucks. Can you come give a speech and help us turn our culture around?' I wish it were that easy. Turning a culture around is very difficult to do because it's based on a series of many, many decisions, and the organization is framed by those decisions.

- Howard Schultz

Turning a culture around is very difficult to do because it's based on a series of many, many decisions, and the organization is framed by those decisions.

- Howard Schultz

What I would say to young entrepreneurs is there's so many moments in your life where you have these dreams, and people are trying to protect you, and they say, perhaps, friends, family, parents sometimes, they don't agree with it, they think, 'This is just too high of a hurdle.' And I don't agree with that.

- Howard Schultz

Great companies that build an enduring brand have an emotional relationship with customers that has no barrier. And that emotional relationship is on the most important characteristic, which is trust.

- Howard Schultz

Europe has always represented a major strategic opportunity to achieve our goal of creating and building an enduring global brand.

- Howard Schultz

This may sound a bit naive, but I got here by believing in big dreams.

- Howard Schultz

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.

- Howard Schultz

Certainly the caffeine in coffee, whether it's Starbucks or generic coffee, is somewhat of a stimulant. But if you drink it in moderation, which I think four or five cups a day is, you're fine.

- Howard Schultz

I really believe that you cannot use the stock market as a proxy for the economy.

- Howard Schultz

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

- Howard Schultz

Customers have different need states and life experiences.

- Howard Schultz

We need to put ourselves in the shoes of our customers. That is my new battle cry. Live and breathe Starbucks the way our customers do.

- Howard Schultz

People ask me what's the most important function when you're starting an organization or setting up the kind of culture and values that are going to endure. The discipline I believe so strongly in is H.R., and its the last discipline that gets funded.

- Howard Schultz

My mother taught me something at a young age - she said 'you are the company you keep'. To define yourself by some label or some level of resources - that's pretty shallow.

- Howard Schultz

Profitability is a shallow goal if it doesn't have a real purpose, and the purpose has to be share the profits with others.

- Howard Schultz

At an early age, my mother gave me this feeling that anything is possible, and I believe that.

- Howard Schultz

In the 1960s, if you were a blue collar worker or uneducated, and you had an injury on the job, the company basically dismissed you.

- Howard Schultz

The lifeblood of job creation in America is small business, but they can't get access to credit.

- Howard Schultz

Managing a business, small or large, today requires an extremely disciplined, thoughtful approach with regard to the pressure that people are under.

- Howard Schultz

We sell tea in Starbucks, but I think the experience is very different. I think coffee is something that is quick - it's transactional. I think tea is more Zen-like. It requires a different environment.

- Howard Schultz

Often, organizations need bold, grand gestures to galvanize people towards a new mission or refocus their attention.

- Howard Schultz

The challenge of the retail business is the human condition.

- Howard Schultz

Starbucks is committed to evolving and enhancing our customer experience with innovative and wholesome food offerings.

- Howard Schultz

If you look at coffee, tea, food and juice, we think there are inherent opportunities. If you look at health bars or grab-and-go products that are in our stores, we think we can significantly enhance them and make them more widely available.

- Howard Schultz

A great business has to have a conscience. You have to know who you are and who you are not.

- Howard Schultz

We woke up one day, and all the sudden Starbucks was in the middle of this political crossfire between the people who want to bring a gun into Starbucks and the people who want to prevent it. It is a very difficult, fragile situation.

- Howard Schultz

I never wanted to be on any billionaires list. I never define myself by net worth. I always try to define myself by my values.

- Howard Schultz

I think many start-ups make mistakes because they are focusing on things that are farther ahead, and they haven't done the work that has built the foundation to support it.

- Howard Schultz

I always saw myself wanting to do something deemed successful and good at the same time.

- Howard Schultz

Post-9/11, we saw an immediate uptick in the amount of people in our stores, all over the country. People wanted that human connection. We are not going to fracture the Starbucks experience.

- Howard Schultz

I think what we're lacking in society, not only in the U.S. but also around the world, is to find heroes once again and to celebrate these kind of people.

- Howard Schultz

I think growth covers up mistakes.

- Howard Schultz

Care more than others think wise.

- Howard Schultz

Risk more than others think safe.

- Howard Schultz

Growing up I always felt like I was living on the other side of the tracks. I knew the people on the other side had more resources, more money, happier families.

- Howard Schultz

I think my whole life, because of where I came from, I had a fear of failure.

- Howard Schultz

It's different when you're trying to turn something around, especially something that you built, at a time when so many constituents - the media, Wall Street, competitors, ex-employees - are all saying that Starbucks's best days are behind it, and that Schultz is never going to be able to bring it back.

- Howard Schultz

We must restore the emotional relationship that people have to the idea of America, that no matter where you come from, no matter where you live, that you have access to the same opportunities that somebody who is born in privilege.

- Howard Schultz

People around the world, they want the authentic Starbucks experience.

- Howard Schultz

When you're building a business or joining a company, you have to be transparent; you can't have two sets of information for two sets of people.

- Howard Schultz

As Americans, there are very few things we have confidence in.

- Howard Schultz

It's ironic that no matter where I go, I meet people from Brooklyn. I'm proud of that heritage. It's where I'm from, who I am.

- Howard Schultz

We think of Starbucks not as a coffee company but a media company.

- Howard Schultz

California, in a sense, is almost Starbucks' largest country, with almost 3,000 stores.

- Howard Schultz

I was taken by the power that savoring a simple cup of coffee can have to connect people and create community.

- Howard Schultz

Everyone must have a shot at the American Dream.

- Howard Schultz

Starbucks represents something beyond a cup of coffee.

- Howard Schultz

I can't imagine a day without coffee. I can't imagine!

- Howard Schultz

In many places where coffee is grown, deforestation is a major issue.

- Howard Schultz

China traditionally has been a tea-drinking country but we turned them into coffee drinkers.

- Howard Schultz

Don't buy preground coffee.

- Howard Schultz

My kids probably started drinking coffee in their late teens.

- Howard Schultz

Starbucks has a role and a meaningful relationship with people that is not only about the coffee.

- Howard Schultz

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

- Howard Schultz

I despise research. I think it's a crutch.

- Howard Schultz

I never took classic business classes in college, so I don't have the background that any of the people running large companies have.

- Howard Schultz

When we began Starbucks, what I wanted to try to do was to create a set of values, guiding principles, and culture.

- Howard Schultz

Do I take criticism of Starbucks personally? Of course I do.

- Howard Schultz

When you're surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.

- Howard Schultz

If you don't love what you're doing with unbridled passion and enthusiasm, you're not going to succeed when you hit obstacles.

- Howard Schultz

You must find something that you deeply love and are passionate about and are willing to sacrifice a lot to achieve.

- Howard Schultz

We need to reinvent food at Starbucks. Less could be more.

- Howard Schultz

I love being the underdog.

- Howard Schultz

America's leaders need to put their feet in the shoes of working Americans.

- Howard Schultz

Expect more than others think possible.

- Howard Schultz

I'm not as interested in what you make as I am in what you're passionate about. What business are you really in?

- Howard Schultz

Dream more than others think practical.

- Howard Schultz

Success is best when it's shared.

- Howard Schultz