Starbucks Coffee Co.

Neil Saunders, CEO of retail research and consulting firm Conlumino, comments on Starbucks’ first quarter results in the remarks below.    

Kimco’s $18 million renovation of Wilde Lake in Columbia, Maryland, has been completed and the mixed-use development is welcoming three new retail tenants.   Starbucks will open both a café and a drive-thru this year and Salons by JC plans a fall opening. Dynamic Dental Care opened in December. Wilde Lake has 230 residential units, 30,000 sq. ft. of office space, and 41,000 sq. ft. of retail.  

DDR has purchased a new Chicago center anchored by a Mariano’s supermarket for $81 million. The 137,618-sq.-ft. property is located on 3030 North Broadway in the Lakeview section of town.   XSport Fitness, PNC Bank, and Starbucks are tenants in the center along with Mariano’s, a chain Chicagoland founded by former Dominick’s deli worker Bob Mariano, who grew it to nearly 48 stores. The chain is now owned by Kroger.  

Starbucks Corp. is upgrading its U.S. paid parental leave plan as it seeks to hire and retain workers in an increasingly competitive labor market.    Effective Oct. 1, eligible store associates who are birth mothers will be entitled to six weeks of paid leave at 100% up from 67% average pay previously, and 12 weeks of unpaid leave.   Store associates who are non-birth parents (including fathers, spouses and foster and adoptive parents) can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave.    

Starbucks Corp. is no longer selling alcohol.   The chain will stop selling beer and wine as it brings to an end to its "Evenings" program. The program, currently in operation in 439 company-owned stores in the United States, will end Jan. 10, although it may continue overseas. Also, Starbucks plans to integrate beer and wine into its new higher-end Roastery format.  

A site near the entrance to Innsbrook Office Park in Glen Allen, Virginia, north of Richmond, has been slated as the home of Dominion Shoppes at Innsbrook, a project of Dominion GA, LLC.   In a deal brokered by Cushman & Wakefield/Thalhimer, Dominion acquired the 2.4-acre tract from Doswell Properties for $2.9 million. The planned center is 100% pre-leased to tenants including Starbucks, Blaze Pizza, American Family Care, and Noodles & Company.  

Across the United States, cities have been experiencing a development resurgence. Legions of Americans are departing suburbia and returning to urban environments, with millennials leading the migration. Young adults are abandoning the suburban subdivisions they grew up in for denser, more vibrant urban settings. Consequently, once-empty lots, city blocks, and otherwise underutilized properties are being replaced with multi-use buildings that can accommodate new residences, office space, and retail.  

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Starbucks has launched its first-ever animated web series — with the help of some veteran comedy writers.