How Starbucks Is Saving Some Green With Its New Store Initiative

Starbucks is planning to open 10,000 new "greener stores" by 2025 as part of its green initiative. The coffee giant announced earlier this summer that it was doing away with plastic straws.

Published September 17, 2018, 10:15am ET · 2 min read

The front exterior of a Starbucks coffee shop building made of brown brick, under a bright blue sky with scattered clouds. A large circular green and white Starbucks siren logo is prominently displayed on the left, on a modern gray facade. Above the main entrance, the words 'STARBUCKS COFFEE' are spelled out in large white letters. Below the sign, there are large glass windows and an outdoor patio area with several black tables and chairs, shaded by two large green umbrellas. Green bushes and a small evergreen tree line the front of the building.
The exterior of a Starbucks coffee shop, emblematic of the company's recent strong financial performance and positive outlook discussed in the article. © jetcityimage / iStock

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) is planning to open 10,000 new “greener stores” by 2025 as part of its green initiative. The coffee giant announced earlier this summer that it was doing away with plastic straws.

The “Starbucks Greener Stores” framework will be built upon comprehensive performance criteria that help ensure the company’s approach to designing, building and operating its company-owned stores sets a new standard for green retail.

Over the next year, Starbucks will develop an accredited program to audit all existing company-operated stores in the United States and Canada against the framework criteria, culminating in 10,000 “greener stores” globally by 2025, encompassing existing stores, new builds and renovations. The Starbucks Greener Stores framework will also be open-sourced to benefit the broader retail industry.

While this idea sounds great on the environmental aspect, it also saves some green on the books as well. Overall, Starbucks Greener Stores framework is anticipated to save the company an incremental $50 million in utilities over the next 10 years. This builds on Starbucks’ 10-year legacy of utility cost savings attributable to greener store practices, which already equates to roughly $30 million in saved annual operating costs.

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Erin Simon, Director of research and development at World Wildlife Fund, U.S., commented:

This framework represents the next step in how Starbucks is approaching environmental stewardship, looking holistically at stores and their role in helping to ensure the future health of our natural resources. When companies step up and demonstrate leadership, other businesses often follow with commitments of their own, driving further positive impacts.

Shares of Starbucks were last seen trading at $54.40, with a consensus analyst price target of $57.88 and a 52-week range of $47.37 to $61.94.

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Chris Lange

Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.

His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.

When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.

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