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Starbucks’ new chief executive has pledged to restore its status as a “community coffee house”, signalling shifts from his predecessor’s strategy as he gave the first details of his plans for reviving the café chain’s faltering sales. 

In an open letter on his second day in the job, Brian Niccol set out the priorities for his first 100 days — and diagnosed some of the problems that led to his predecessor Laxman Narasimhan being abruptly ousted last month.

Some stores, especially in the US, lack the “magic” that draws customers into Starbucks, the former Chipotle Mexican Grill CEO said in a letter addressed to employees, customers and stakeholders.

“It can feel transactional, menus can feel overwhelming, product is inconsistent, the wait too long or the handoff too hectic,” he wrote, adding: “There’s a shared sense that we have drifted from our core.” 

Starbucks shares have risen by about a fifth since Niccol’s appointment on hopes he will be able to repeat what was a wildly successful turnaround at the US burrito chain he led from 2018. 

Niccol said one of his four initial areas of focus in the US would be “re-establishing Starbucks as the community coffee house”, with stores that are “inviting places to linger, with comfortable seating, thoughtful design and a clear distinction between ‘to-go’ and ‘for-here’ service”, he wrote.

Starbucks has become increasingly reliant on takeaway orders placed on mobile apps and picked up at counters or drive-through windows. The morning rush has led to long queues and complaints that the company’s appeal as a “third place” — the cosy hang-out separate from home and work championed by longtime chief Howard Schultz — had faded. 

Narasimhan’s strategy included changes to stores to make them more efficient and new outlets designed solely for drive-through or delivery-only service. The company has been renovating hundreds of stores this year and Narasimhan had already said it was expanding seating options to help “enhance the café experience”.

Starbucks has reported global same-store sales declines for the past two quarters. Before Niccol’s appointment its shares had lagged the broader US stock market for several years. 

Niccol said he would spend most of his time initially on the US, which is by far the company’s biggest market. His other three areas of focus would be service in the high-volume morning period, the experience of baristas and “telling our story”, he said, adding: “We won’t let others define who we are.”

 Outside the US, sales have been sliding in China, a critical engine of growth for the company, while Starbucks has suffered from boycotts in the Middle East and elsewhere over the war in Gaza. 

“In China, we need to understand the potential path to capture growth and capitalise on our strengths in this dynamic market. Internationally, we see enormous potential for growth, especially in regions like the Middle East, where we’ll work to dispel misconceptions about our brand, and in Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America, where the love for Starbucks is strong,” Niccol wrote.

Shares of Starbucks rose 1.2 per cent to close at $93.34 on Tuesday.

Mauricio Pochettino, the Argentinian soccer coach who has led some of Europe’s top club teams over the past decade, has been named to lead the U.S. men’s national soccer team through a much-anticipated run at the FIFA World Cup in 2026.

“Mauricio is a serial winner with a deep passion for player development and a proven ability to build cohesive and competitive teams,” said Matt Crocker, U.S. Soccer’s sporting director.

The selection of Pochettino is seen by many in the soccer world as a high-profile get for the U.S. national team job. Positions at top-tier European clubs, like the ones where Pochettino has coached most recently, are generally the most coveted and lucrative jobs in the sport.

After a successful career as a player, Pochettino began his coaching career in Spain. But it was in England where he rose to prominence, helping to steer Tottenham Hotspur back to relevance in the second half of the 2010s after decades of mediocrity. Pochettino then went on to short stints at two of Europe’s biggest clubs, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.

All told, Pochettino has perhaps the most prestigious soccer resume of any head coach ever hired by the U.S. men’s national team, which has more often drawn its managers from Major League Soccer.

“His passion for the game, his innovative approach to coaching, and his ability to inspire and connect with players make him the perfect fit for this role. We are excited to have him leading our Men’s National Team,” said U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone.

The 16th-ranked U.S. men’s team is scheduled to play a friendly match against New Zealand on Tuesday evening, though Pochettino will not coach that game. Pochettino’s first matches will come in October, when the team plays against Mexico and Panama.

The U.S. has long punched below its weight in international men’s soccer, outdone regularly by countries where soccer is king of sports.

But hopes for the team are perennially high — especially now, with the U.S. on the cusp of co-hosting the FIFA World Cup alongside Mexico and Canada in 2026.

It was with 2026 in mind that U.S. Soccer decided to part ways with previous coach Gregg Berhalter, who was brought on six years ago after a disastrous cycle in which the men’s team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Under Berhalter’s leadership, the U.S. men did reach the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup, a modest but promising sign of an upward trajectory.

But this summer, the team struggled at the Copa América tournament, where the U.S. failed to advance out of the group stage at its last consequential international event before the 2026 World Cup. He lost support of vocal fan groups and former players. Shortly afterward, Berhalter was fired.

Now, Pochettino’s hire marks what officials and fans alike hope will be a new era for the men’s team.

Pochettino has never coached a national team. But he has long held a reputation for an interest in player development and working in close coordination with youth teams. Among his laurels is the elevation of a young Harry Kane to a regular starter at Tottenham, where Kane went on to become the club’s all-time leading scorer and, eventually, captain of the English national team.

“You feel proud when you arrive and the young player starts to play and they get to the level where England or a different national team picks them,” Pochettino told The Guardian in 2015. “I think for the club, and for us and for the supporters, it is a great thing.”

Eric Dier, a defensive midfielder for the English national team who played his formative years at Tottenham, said in a 2022 podcast interview that he had been “extremely lucky” to play under Pochettino.

Mauricio Pochettino, new U.S. men’s national team coach, arrives at the stadium prior to a Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and his former club, Chelsea FC, on May 19, 2024 in London, England.

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“He instilled his faith in me. And he did that over and over again with players,” Dier told the High Performance Podcast. “If you were ready, you were ready. It didn’t matter the occasion. He was great like that.”

As a player, Pochettino played for years with La Liga’s Espanyol and later Paris Saint-Germain. He also represented Argentina at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

His managerial career began at Espanyol, then he moved to England to lead Southampton and soon Tottenham, leading Spurs to the team’s best Premier League finishes since 1990 and their first-ever appearance in the Champions League final. In a short stint at PSG, Pochettino led that squad to a Ligue 1 title and a Coupe de France win.

Most recently, he managed Chelsea but parted ways with the club after only one season amid reports of disagreements with team administrators over strategy and roster decisions.

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The US has warned that Russia is helping China develop submarine, aeronautic and missile technologies in exchange for Beijing’s support for Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Russia’s deepening sharing of military knowhow in areas such as stealth and surveillance would have a “negative and concerning impact” on the security of the US and its allies, Kurt Campbell, US deputy secretary of state, said on Tuesday.

“These new areas of collaboration between Russia and China are in the areas of design and . . . application. They are significant,” Campbell told reporters during a visit to Brussels to meet EU, Nato and Belgian officials.

The collaboration could have a “very significant impact on Chinese capabilities and deployments in the western Pacific”, he added.

Russia has historically been cautious about co-operating with China on military technology out of concern about giving too much assistance to the development of the large and highly capable forces in its neighbouring country and a desire to protect its intellectual property.

But Campbell said Russian support, provided in exchange for Chinese supplies of items such as parts used to build Russian weapons, was “orchestrated at the highest levels” in Moscow and Beijing.

The co-operation was “not a tactical alliance, this is a fundamental alignment”, he said.

The Chinese embassy to the EU in Brussels did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Campbell’s comments. Beijing has previously denounced accusations it is supporting Russia’s war effort as “biased, slanderous, and provocative”, insisting it has taken a “constructive role” on the war in Ukraine and has not provided lethal weapons to either side.

Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, said Moscow had become more willing to collaborate with Beijing on military technology after its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the process had accelerated since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Russia realised that China is pumping tens of billions of dollars into defence research and production, annually,” Gabuev said.

“Russia realised that . . . in certain limited areas, where Russia still has superiority, it has a window of opportunity right now to grow into the Chinese market, earn money, and in the best-case scenario, create a joint value chain.”

Several Russian scientists working in areas related to weapons development have been given long prison sentences in the past decade for allegedly passing state secrets to China.

Last week, Alexander Shiplyuk, a physicist from a renowned Siberian institute working on scientific research related to the development of Russian hypersonic missiles, received a 15-year sentence for treason. Reuters reported that his arrest followed a trip to a conference in China.

However, western sanctions have made Moscow increasingly dependent on China for access to dual-use goods needed to produce weapons for deployment in Ukraine and to refurbish its military-industrial production facilities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin himself confirmed in 2019 that Moscow was helping Beijing develop a missile-defence early-warning system.

China’s new Type 096 nuclear ballistic missile submarine was also developed with support from Russian technology for making its propulsion system more silent, according to US naval researchers.

Until relatively recently, Russia had resisted sharing advanced submarine technology with China. In 2021, the Rubin Central Design Bureau, one of Russia’s key submarine research centres, was hacked in an intrusion that cyber security experts attributed to Chinese actors.

China and Russia have also been deepening military co-operation by holding large joint naval and air exercises.

On Tuesday, Russia announced the start of a week-long naval exercise involving over 400 vessels and submarines in the Pacific and Arctic oceans and the Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic seas. Four Chinese warships would join the exercise in the Sea of Japan, it said.

Announcing the start of the drills, Putin accused the US of “trying to maintain its global military and political dominance at any cost”.

“Under the pretext of countering the alleged Russian threat and containing the People’s Republic of China, the US and its satellites are increasing their military presence near Russia’s western borders, in the Arctic and in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said.