Howard Schultz Quotes

Quotes by and about Howard Schultz

(Continued from his main entry on the site.)

Schultz: "[In business] you have to have an attention to detail that is above reproach."

[On Starbucks selling sandwiches:]
Schultz: "[They] put an oven in our stores. I would walk into a store ... and I was upset: I didn't smell the aroma of coffee. I smelled burnt cheese."

[On his decision to disallow the re-steaming of milk in Starbucks franchises:]
Schultz: "You should not be re-steaming milk when you're making an espresso. [Yet doing so increases profitability.] ... Someone told me: 'But no one's going to be able to tell the difference.' And I said: 'But I can.'"

Schultz: "I conduct my life with an expectation that people will do the right thing. Yet even with all my experience, I am still surprised when they do not."

[On a leaked internal memo he wrote that was critical of what Starbucks had become:]
Schultz: "Every thought I expressed came from a place of love. My critiques were honest expressions born of my passion for Starbucks and my deep desire to push for reinvention and self-renewal."

Schultz: "When it comes to Starbucks, I take every threat very personally. Starbucks is in my blood."

Schultz: "I love Starbucks because everything we've tried to do is steeped in humanity. Respect and dignity. Passion and laughter. Compassion, community and responsibility. Authenticity. These are Starbucks' touchstones, the source of our pride."

Schultz: "There are moments in our lives when we summon the courage to make choices that go against reason, against common sense and the wise counsel of people we trust. But we lean forward nonetheless because, despite all risks and rational argument, we believe [in] the path we are choosing ... even if we do not know exactly where our actions will lead."

Schultz: "Passionate conviction ... sparks romances, wins battles, and drives people to pursue dreams others wouldn't dare. Belief in ourselves and in what is right catapults us over hurdles, and our lives unfold."