Starbucks Coffee Co.

The Neiman Marcus Group has added Adam Brotman, Phillipe Bourguignon, and Vivek “Vic” Gundotra to its board of directors.

Brotman is chief digital officer for Starbucks and is responsible for Starbucks’ core digital businesses, including mobile and mobile payments, Web, card, loyalty, e-commerce, wi-fi and the Starbucks Digital Network. Prior to joining Starbucks in 2009, Brotman held key leadership positions at leading digital media companies including Corbis and PlayNetwork.

Seattle – Starbucks Coffee Corp. plans to open 1,500 new stores worldwide during 2014, including 600 in North America. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said that Starbucks is under-stored in many markets, including North America, during a conference call discussing the company’s second quarter financial results.

Seattle – Starbucks Coffee Company reported generally strong performance in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, compared to the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 10% to $0.56, from $0.51.

Consolidated net revenues grew 9% to $3.87 billion from $3.55 billion, while consolidated same-store sales increased 6%.

The retailer cited its Teavana business, partnership with Oprah Winfrey, and new payment and loyalty technology as all contributing to overall fiscal growth.

Seattle – Starbucks Corp. has filed building permits to open a La Boulange bakery location in Los Angeles. The permits do not specify a time when Starbucks plans to open the new store.

Starbucks purchased the La Boulange chain in 2012 and currently sells La Boulange-branded baked goods in U.S. Starbucks outlets. However, while there are 22 La Boulange stores in San Francisco, this would be the first location outside that market. Starbucks has previously said it wants to expand La Boulange nationally.

Back in October, I commemorated my six-month anniversary as technology editor of Chain Store Age with a column looking at how retail IT has been disrupted in recent years. Now that I have a full year under my belt, I thought it would be interesting to look at how customer expectations of retail IT have been disrupted in recent years (and don’t worry, there will be no 18-month anniversary piece). Three paradigm-shifting changes in how retailers must now engage with customers using technology stand out.

Every Man is an Island

Seattle – Starbucks Corp. plans to move its European headquarters to London, from its current base in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The move will both concentrate some executives in the U.K., including some transferred from the Amsterdam office, and also increase the tax Starbucks pays in the U.K.

Starbucks paid an estimated $16.8 million in U.K. taxes during 2013 and has said it expects to pay the same amount in 2014. The company has received criticism in the U.K. for allegedly using complex accounting procedures to minimize the tax it pays there.

Seattle -- Starbucks on Wednesday released its 13th Global Responsibility Report, which highlights the company’s progress on long-term goals for community engagement, sustainability and ethical sourcing. The coffee giant also announced the launch of its fourth annual Global Month of Service, with Starbucks employees, customers and community members once again coming together to help contribute more than one million community service hours per year by 2015.

New York -- The second floor of Uniqlo’s Fifth Avenue flagship in Manhattan has been transformed in conjunction with the launch of the retailer’s SPRZ NY collection, done in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art. The renovated floor includes the addition of a full-service Starbucks (a first for Uniqlo).