I remember about two to three years ago hearing a rumor that Starbuck’s 
(Nasdaq: SBUX) did not support the military and that they were anti-war. While to each his (or her) own as it pertains to opinions about the war, businesses that struggle to keep their customer base are finding that they have to change the way they do business. Strong issues like war, abortion, government control or politics is enough to change the way businesses impact the economy. Starbuck’s found this out. Whenever you go into a Starbuck’s chain now to purchase any of their product, you get a “military discount” (provided you are military), and on occasion, a free donut.
Starbucks has been feeling the economic pressure for quite some time as they struggle to identify themselves as a corporate culture leaving an impression and still able to retain and grow their customer base. They haven't done anything different than what any business would do who's in trouble or find that they're challenged in robust bottom line profits.
What they've done is good. They're realigning themselves as a viable competitive force in their industry and wooing the customers back slowly through excellent customer service, customer discounts and a superior product.
Let's just hope it all works out for them.
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