Starbucks BioSnap a weekly updated Biography.

Starbucks just dropped major news this past week by announcing that Red Cup Day will return on November 13, 2025, with free, reusable holiday cups for customers ordering seasonal drinks—a highly anticipated promotion especially in Michigan, where the festive cups and limited-edition drinks like Peppermint Mocha and Caramel Brulee Latte are already generating buzz according to the Free Press. The menu is getting new additions such as the Iced Gingerbread Chai, while bakery cases will feature returning fan favorites like the Snowman Cookie and new treats such as the Bear Cake. This year Starbucks is heavily promoting sustainability by offering discounts and bonus loyalty rewards to customers using their reusable holiday cups, and their Instagram account teased extra staffing and in-store festivities to heighten the holiday cheer.

On the business front, things have been less merry. Multiple outlets, including AlphaStreet and GlobeSt, are reporting that Starbucks’ stock underperformed the market, dropping 8 percent over the last quarter. The company is about to report its Q4 2025 earnings on October 29, and Wall Street is predicting only 3 percent revenue growth year-over-year while earnings per share are expected to drop 30 percent. The decline is blamed on sluggish store sales in the U.S., partly offset by rising average ticket sizes, while international markets are seeing transaction increases. Internally Starbucks is calling this period their Back to Starbucks strategy and plans to refresh at least 1,000 cafes by 2026—but they are also closing underperforming stores and have cut 900 non-retail positions, fueling rumors of broader retrenchment after years of aggressive expansion. GlobeSt points to mounting construction costs and landlord frustration as another source of pressure, with Starbucks now walking back its fast-paced store growth.

Labor is also dominating headlines. As covered by CBS News, thousands of Starbucks employees representing around 550 stores are currently voting on whether to authorize a widespread strike, seeking more hours, better pay, and a resolution to numerous unfair labor practice allegations. Union rallies and pickets are being planned in dozens of cities, and despite 33 tentative agreements, the vast majority of issues appear unresolved. Starbucks, for its part, says it’s put over $500 million into improving staffing and benefits, and claims that nearly 85 percent of workers get their preferred hours, but union leaders say too many baristas still cannot earn enough or meet benefits thresholds. There are allegations and denials on both sides about who is stonewalling contract negotiations, and, as labor columnist Susan Schurman told CBS, these strikes have so far made limited impact unless union density increases significantly.

On the innovation side, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol gave a headline-grabbing talk at the Dreamforce AI conference, revealing next-generation AI plans that could let Starbucks predict your order ahead of time or allow you to place orders via a voice assistant. This builds on their earlier release of Green Dot Assist, an AI-powered barista support system. Niccol stressed, according to Nation’s Restaurant News, that these technologies are not about replacing human baristas but about enabling better customer experiences—think optimized inventory and less food waste rather than lost jobs. McKinsey and other tech commentators are abuzz over Starbucks doubling down on digital as a way to reverse flagging sales and win back Gen Z and millennial customers.

Social media has been lighting up with speculation about holiday drink launches and rumors that the Red Cup Day design is a radical departure, though Starbucks has yet to officially reveal the 2025 design. Influencers are hyping new menu additions and TikTok is flooded with DIY hacks for upcycling last year’s cup. Notably,...