Starbucks sees 1,000 new U.S. stores in next five years; will accept mobile payments starting in November

Houston -- Starbucks Coffee Co. founder and CEO Howard Schultz said his company plans to add 1,000 stores in the U.S. in the next five years, according to a Bloomberg report.



In other news, Starbucks announced that customers will be able to use Square Wallet to pay with their mobile phones at U.S. Starbucks stores beginning in early November. The chain also said it will enable digital tipping at its U.S. company-operated stores through both the Square and Starbucks mobile payment applications in the summer of 2013. Customers will also be able to use the Square directory to find more than 7,000 U.S. company-operated Starbucks stores.



Additionally, Starbucks announced that the third retail location for its Evolution Fresh juice brand will open in mid-October, in the Filmore district of San Francisco. It plans to open an additional store in the University Village Shopping Center in Seattle in mid-November



Starbucks made the announcements on the first day of its three-day Global Leadership Conference in Houston. Nearly 10,000 of the company’s store managers and regional leaders from outside the U.S. are in attendance at the event. Starbucks said it has branded the conference with the theme “Lead” to reinforce the critical leadership role these store managers -- many of whom are running the equivalent of small businesses generating more than $1 million in annual sales -- play in the company’s success.



Starbucks also celebrated the opening of a profit-sharing "community" store in Houston’s East End neighborhood. The Houston location is the company’s third community store in the U.S. Starbucks opened its first two profit-sharing Community location s in Harlem, N.Y., and Crenshaw, Calif., one year ago.