There's this myth that has been exacerbated by others that Starbucks means a $4 cup of coffee, which is not true.

To be an enduring, great company, you have to build a mechanism for preventing or solving problems that will long outlast any one individual leader.

I am concerned about any attrition in customer traffic at Starbucks, but I don't want to use the economy, commodity prices or consumer confidence as an excuse.

When you're surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.

My father had a series of blue-collar jobs and never made more than $20,000 a year. When I was seven, he got injured on a job. That was a very important point - because of the injury, he couldn't walk, and the company he was working for did not pay him. There was no compensation. So there was no money and no food.

In anything we do, any endeavor, it's not what you do; it's why you do it

On balance, I am a supporter of the minimum wage going up. We've got to be very careful what we wish for because some employers - and there could be a lot of them - will be scared away from hiring new people or creating incremental hours for part-time people as a result of that wage going up.