Starbucks 2008 Annual Report Download - page 14

Employees
The Company employed approximately 176,000 people worldwide as of September 28, 2008. In the United States,
Starbucks employed approximately 143,000 people, with 136,000 in Company-operated retail stores and the
remainder in the Company’s administrative and regional offices, and store development, roasting and warehousing
operations. Approximately 33,000 employees were employed outside of the United States, with 32,000 in
Company-operated retail stores and the remainder in the Company’s regional support facilities and roasting
and warehousing operations. The number of the Company’s employees represented by unions is immaterial.
Starbucks believes its current relations with its employees are good.
Available Information
Starbucks 10-K reports, along with all other reports and amendments filed with or furnished to the Securities and
Exchange Commission (“SEC”), are publicly available free of charge on the Investor Relations section of Starbucks
website at http://investor.starbucks.com or at www.sec.gov as soon as reasonably practicable after these materials
are filed with or furnished to the SEC. The Company’s corporate governance policies, ethics code and Board of
Directors’ committee charters are also posted within this section of the website. The information on the Company’s
website is not part of this or any other report Starbucks files with, or furnishes to, the SEC.
Global Responsibility
Starbucks is committed to being a deeply responsible company in the communities where it does business around
the world. The Company’s focus is on ethically sourcing high-quality coffee, reducing its environmental impacts
and contributing positively to communities. Starbucks Global Responsibility strategy and commitments are integral
to the Company’s overall business strategy. As a result, Starbucks believes it delivers benefits to the Company and
its stakeholders, including employees, business partners, customers, suppliers, shareholders, community members
and others. For an overview of Starbucks Global Responsibility strategy and commitments, please see Starbucks
fiscal 2008 Global Responsibility Report, which will be available online at www.starbucks.com/sharedplanet in
April 2009.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Starbucks is including this Cautionary Statement to make applicable and take advantage of the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”) for forward-looking statements. This
10-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act. Forward-looking statements can be
identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include words such as
“believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks” or words of similar meaning, or future
or conditional verbs, such as “will,” “should,” “could,” “may,” “aims,” “intends,” or “projects.” A forward-looking
statement is neither a prediction nor a guarantee of future events or circumstances, and those future events or
circumstances may not occur. Investors should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date of this Report. These forward-looking statements are all based on currently available
operating, financial and competitive information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The Company’s
actual future results and trends may differ materially depending on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to,
the risks and uncertainties discussed below.
•Failure to meet market expectations for Starbucks financial performance will likely adversely affect the
market price of Starbucks stock.
The Company’s failure to meet market expectations going forward, particularly with respect to comparable store
sales, net revenues, operating margins, and earnings per share, will likely result in a decline in the market price of
Starbucks stock.
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