Danny Meyer To Howard Shultz: The Future of Starbucks is STARbeans

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Everyone seems to have a strong opinion about Starbucks. And now that the coffee chain is faltering, there's no shortage of ideas on how the company can turn its fortunes around. On that note, New York Magazine rounds up a few influential voices—author Corby Kummer, restaurateur Danny Meyer and Jonathan Rubinstein of Joe the Art of Coffee—to opine on how to "fix" Starbucks. Meyer's is the most inventive:

If I were in charge, I’d buy (or pay enormous consulting fees to) four of the smaller, elite players from across the world who are doing it right...Drawing on their collective intelligence, I’d develop the ultimate connoisseur’s coffee bar—based on a relentless pursuit of the superior cup of coffee. I’d launch these fresh stores as a separate new luxury brand with the working title STARbeans—that would confer a halo effect on Starbucks coffee, as Purple Label has on Polo Ralph Lauren.

Not a bad idea. Forget Starbucks, though: How great would a Danny Meyer-run coffee shop be?
· How to Fix Starbucks [NY Mag]