Bob McCarty Writes

Starbucks® officials announced in a news release today they would cut 12,000 jobs and shutter 600 underperforming stores.

Rumor has it the coffee giant’s top officials would have announced their staffing cutbacks and store closings weeks earlier, but had difficulty describing the size of the cutbacks. When a credit rating analyst asked a Starbucks® official if he could characterize the size of the anticipated cutbacks, that official placed it in the “Grande” range, leaving the analyst — a non-coffee drinker — thoroughly confused for months, thereby slowing the company’s economy-induced correction.