Americans Are Abandoning Starbucks—Here’s Why, and What the Coffee Chain Is Changing
Starbucks continues to transcend the coffee industry, despite lulls in foot traffic and profit margins. Although coffee lovers are seemingly abandoning the coffeehouse chain, the company remains hopeful for its future, which includes new cold foam creations and healthier drink recipes. Keep reading to see what new changes will be coming to your neighborhood Starbies.
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Foot traffic has been down for six straight quarters at Starbucks.
Starbucks’ profit margins were razor-thin long before company CEO Brian Niccol took the helm. In Oct. 2024, the coffeehouse empire reported a “pronounced traffic decline” in the wake of “a cautious consumer environment,” per Axios. And this year’s sales haven’t proven much better.
In a Q2 Fiscal Year 2025 report, Starbucks revealed its same-store sales dropped two percent amid a four percent reduction in foot traffic. (Although severe, the outcome was better than Q1’s eight percent traffic decline.) The company’s operating margin also suffered a significant hit, dropping to 11.6 percent from 18 percent in 2024.
Same-store sales plummeted for the sixth consecutive quarter in June 2025. A Q3 fiscal report showed a four percent drop in comparable transactions. Operating income came in at $918.7 million, compared to $1.4 billion the year prior. Additionally, Starbucks reported a 7.7 percent decrease in operating margin due to additional labor costs and inflation.
“Taking into account that we have a lot in flight, combined with the uncertain consumer environment, we are conservative on how the current year-over-year trends will change in the fourth quarter for the US company-operated business,” Starbucks CFO Cathy Smith said during an earnings call.
Looking towards the future, Smith remains optimistic “that 2026 will continue to improve.” And Starbucks has big plans on how to make that happen.
Starbucks teases new (and healthier) drink and food options.
Starbucks is rolling out new changes to get customers back in its good graces.
Creating healthier drink and food options is the top priority at Starbucks HQ. The company has ditched high-fructose corn syrup and artificial dyes and flavors. This year, sugar-free matcha joined the menu.
Starbucks lead product developer Dana Pellicano told The Seattle Times, “We’ve been working on sugar reduction.” Agave-based sweeteners are being tested, as well as coconut water substitutions for matcha and cold brew drinks.
Protein-infused cold foam is also reportedly on the horizon. Customers can also expect to see more vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, and gluten-free products soon.
The hope is that all customers can order from the Starbucks menu “without having to sacrifice how they want to feel about their choices,” said Pellicano.
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Prices will remain the same…for now.
While Starbucks has no intention of raising its prices in the immediate future, it’s always a possibility.
“There are times where it makes sense to raise prices, and when those situations present itself, we’re going to do it in the least amount of pricing necessary,” Niccol told analysts, per The New York Times. “So will we have to use it in the future? Absolutely. It’s going to be the last lever I’d like to pull. And when we pull that lever, I probably want to do as little as possible.”
Inflation and tariffs are a big concern in regards to price hikes. However, Niccol told Yahoo Finance it “has minimal impact in the very near term.”
Starbucks is revamping the overall customer experience.
Since taking over as CEO, Niccol has made a diligent effort to shorten long wait times and improve the overall customer experience, which includes a return to Starbucks’ original coffeehouse-style layout with ample seating and conversation areas.
As Best Life previously reported, In a July 29 earnings call, Niccol announced plans to “sunset” Starbucks’ mobile order and pickup-only concept, “reestablishing that moment of connection between a barista and their customer.”
To that point, Starbucks has hired more baristas and axed unpopular items from its menu. Baristas are training to whip up orders in under four minutes.
“We’ve had to fix a lot, but we’ve done the hard work on the hard things,” said Niccol, per NYT.