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Starbucks plans to lay off 1,100 corporate employees and eliminate hundreds of open and unfilled positions, CEO Brian Niccol said on Monday. In a memo, Niccol said the cuts will remove duplication “to create smaller, more nimble teams,” and the company will inform employees who are being laid off by midday Tuesday. Starbucks, which has 16,000 corporate employees, said the cuts will not affect staff at cafés. We believe its a necessary change to position Starbucks for future success, Niccol said in the statement. “Our intent is to operate more efficiently, increase accountability, reduce complexity, and drive better integration.” Shares of the coffee giant (NASDAQ:SBUX) rose nearly 2% on the news in midday trading Monday. Like many fast-food chains and retail stores, Starbucks has been struggling with declining in-store sales as customers are less interested in the chain’s high-priced drinks. The cuts come just one month after the Seattle-based coffee chain reversed its popular open-door policy, which allowed anyone to sit in its cafés or use the bathroom without making a purchase. Last week, Niccol told the Wall Street Journal he plans to speed up wait times and improve mobile ordering. He also said Starbucks will be offering smaller menus in the future. According to Today.com, starting March 4, these 13 drinks will be off the menu: Iced Matcha Lemonade Espresso Frappuccino Caff Vanilla Frappuccino White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino Java Chip Frappuccino Chai Crme Frappuccino Caramel Ribbon Crunch Crme Frappuccino Double Chocolaty Chip Crme Frappuccino Chocolate Cookie Crumble Crme Frappuccino White Chocolate Crme Frappuccino White Hot Chocolate Royal English Breakfast Latte Honey Almondmilk Flat White The chain will instead focus on customer favorites like the new Cortado and will be bringing back the Iced Cherry Chai and Jalapeo Chicken Pocket this spring.
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Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. National home prices have risen by 2.6% year-over-year from January 2024 to January 2025, according to the Zillow Home Value Index, a slightly decelerated rate from the 4.6% year-over-year rate last spring. However, not every housing market is seeing rising home prices. Among the 300 largest metro area housing markets, 31 markets are seeing falling home prices on a year-over-year basis. While home prices continue to rise in regions with tight inventorysuch as much of the Northeast, Midwest, and Southern Californiasome housing markets in states like Texas, Florida, and Louisiana, where inventory has now surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 levels, are experiencing modest price corrections. These year-over-year declines are evident in major metros such as Austin (-3.4%); Tampa (-2.8%); San Antonio (-1.8%); New Orleans (-1.1%); Jacksonville, Florida (-0.9%); Phoenix (-0.8%); Dallas (-0.7%); and Orlando (-0.6%).\] The markets seeing the most softness, where homebuyers are gaining leverage, are primarily located in Sun Belt regions, particularly the Gulf Coast and Mountain West. These areas saw major price surges during the pandemic housing boom, with home price growth outpacing local income levels. As pandemic-driven migration slowed and mortgage rates rose, markets like Tampa and Austin faced challenges, relying on local income levels to support frothy home prices. This softening trend is further compounded by an abundance of new home supply in the Sun Belt. Builders are often willing to lower prices or offer affordability incentives to maintain sales, which also has a cooling effect on the resale market. Some buyers, who would have previously considered existing homes, are now opting for new homes with more favorable deals. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r
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This morning, Apple announced its largest spend commitment to date: A whopping $500 billion thats set to be invested in American manufacturing, engineering, and AI efforts over the next four years. The major news comes just days after Apple CEO Tim Cook met with President Donald Trump to discuss the tech giants current manufacturing practices and the presidents tariff initiatives. Earlier this month, the Trump administration moved ahead with a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports and proposed even larger tariffs on Mexican importsboth countries that serve as major manufacturing suppliers for Apples partner, Foxconn Technology Group. After Cook and Trump met on Friday, the president said that Apple planned to close existing plants in Mexico and build more products in the U.S. instead, claiming, They dont want to be in the tariffs. [Cook] is going to start building, Trump told reporters of the CEOs plans for U.S. investment. Very big numbersyou have to speak to him. I assume theyre going to announce it at some point. Now, Cooks plans have come into sharper focus. Heres everything you need to know about Apples supersized American investment: Where will the money go? According to a press release from Apple, the $500 billion investment will be spread across a few major projects and several smaller initiatives. To start, the company plans to begin building servers in the U.S. via a new 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. The plant will be located in Houston, Texas, and is slated to open sometime in 2026. Meanwhile, in Detroit, Apple will open the Apple Manufacturing Academy, a tech education initiative. Apple engineers, along with experts from top universities such as Michigan State, will consult with small- and medium-sized businesses on implementing AI and smart manufacturing techniques, the press release notes. The company will also use the new investment to double its existing U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund, a program designed to create American manufacturing jobs. Part of that expansion will entail a multibillion-dollar commitment from Apple to produce advanced silicon in TSMCs Fab 21 facility in Arizona, the release reads. What can Apple users expect? Another core beneficiary of the $500 billion initiative will be Apples U.S.-based research and development (R&D) teams, which are responsible for new product releases like the recent iPhone 16E. Over the next four years, Apple expects to hire around 20,000 new employees, the vast majority of whom will be focused on R&D, silicon engineering, software development, AI, and machine learningeach a subcategory that will presumably shape Apples future product releases. Why is Apple doing this now? As Trump continues to pursue higher tariffs, costs for overseas manufacturing are rising for Apple, especially given that China is the companys largest manufacturing hub. Meanwhile, Cooklike many tech CEOs in Trumps second administrationseems intent on maintaining a strong relationship with the president, including via donations to his campaign and visits to his Mar-A-Lago estate. During Trumps first term, Cook leveraged his connection to the president to secure a tariff exemption for the iPhone. Now, it seems, this unprecedented new investment is part of Cooks plan to shepherd Apple forward in a political climate that rewards American manufacturing while punishing production abroad.
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