Shop Talk

Christmas may be starting early for many retailers, but that isn’t the case at Starbucks.

While department stores like Macy’s are already in full holiday mode — hoping to get a jump on what is expected to be a dismal holiday season — the Seattle coffee shop chain is waiting until after Halloween and after Thanksgiving to serve up its holiday cheer.

Dorothy Kim, executive vice president of global strategy at Starbucks, said company executives had numerous discussions about when to roll out its holiday products, particularly since the economy is weak and this year’s holiday season has fewer shopping days than usual.

“We thought, ‘Let’s be courageous, let’s launch holiday after Thanksgiving’,” Kim said. “We have four weeks and we’re going to focus our efforts on that.”

The holiday season has traditionally been a very busy time for Starbucks, but Kim said succumbing to temptation and pushing holiday products too soon could have consequences: “You kind of get into this holiday fatigue.”

(Graphic: Starbucks)