Schultz returned as CEO of Starbucks in 2008, when the company was struggling for the first time in its history. Shortly after coming back, he took steps that some outsiders viewed as strange, including a company retreat to New Orleans and closing all of Starbucks' stores for an afternoon to retrain their baristas. Schultz says those steps helped them return to their core mission and that he learned a lot during the company's crisis. "What I learned, first off, is that our customers really wanted us to win," he said. "They had such respect for the company.... I also learned that despite the growth and ubiquity of the company, it was critical for us to be locally relevant."
Starbucks Coffee Company
