SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp’s (SBUX.O) outgoing Executive Chairman Howard Schultz said on Monday that a recent slowdown in China would be short-lived, seeking to salve investor concerns that the U.S. coffee chain is under pressure in the fast-growing market.
Schultz also hinted at a potential tie-up with e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s (BABA.N) billionaire founder Jack Ma, that could help rev up online coffee sales for the chain in China.
Starbucks said last month China same-store sales would be flat to slightly negative in its second-biggest market in April-June, versus 7 percent growth a year earlier, triggering a sharp drop in the chain’s share price.
Schultz, ostensibly on a farewell tour after he stepped down in June, said fears of a slowdown in the market were a “false narrative”, and that over time the closely watched metric would regain its momentum.
“It’s a very short-term number that Wall Street uses, it’s not a number we’re concerned about,” he said at a roundtable at the firm’s flagship Roastery store in Shanghai.
“I will say, unequivocally, that anyone who is betting against Starbucks in China is dead wrong.”
China has been a sweet spot for Starbucks for the past few years, with a burgeoning cafe culture driving rapid growth even as the market saturated back home.
Schultz, who owned about 3 percent of Starbucks stock as of Dec. 18, sees China as overtaking the United States as Starbucks’ top market, with
