Care to trade in your cup of joe for something kickier? A Starbucks "test cafe" in Seattle will sell local premium wine and beer in addition to coffee and tea when it reopens later this year. The experiment in brand rethink, dubbed "Olive Way," will also diverge from Starbuck's iconic green-and-tan color scheme and offer a wider food menu. Can alcohol help re-energize a chain that has had to shutter hundreds of locations? (Watch a CBS report about Starbucks' beer business)
Morning sales alone can't carry the business anymore: The bottom line is that Starbucks has to drive more business throughout the day, says InvestorPlace at MSN.com. McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts have kept the coffee business "increasingly competitive" and Starbucks knows it needs to keep innovating. So this plan, while inevitably controversial, does makes sense.
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