Starbucks CEO: Can You 'Get Big And Stay Small'?

Launched in the 1980s, Starbucks became a household name and its long time CEO Howard Schultz became a billionaire. When he stepped down from that post in 2000, the company was on a caffeine-fueled high. But eight years later, amid a global financial crisis, Starbucks was faltering. Schultz returned as CEO, and after more than two years things are looking a lot better.

Crammed with tales to tug the heartstrings, the newest book by Howard Schultz describes how the coffee chain founder turned around the company after returning to lead it in 2008, eight years after he stepped down."Onward: How Starbucks fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul" picks up where author-Chief Executive Howard Schultz's previous book, "Pour Your Heart Into It," left off.

You may think there's a Starbucks on every street corner on Earth. But the coffee giant plans to open 500 more stores over the next year, as the global economy recovers, CEO Howard Schultz told Bloomberg News. Just last year, his company was shutting stores in the U.S. Most of the news stores will be overseas -- and mainly in China.

Starbucks recently announced plans to open 3,000 new outlets in the Americas — 1,500 of them in the U.S. — and more in China. That may seem like business as usual for the world’s largest coffeehouse chain, which already has more than 18,000 locations around the globe. But just a few of years ago, Starbucks closed hundreds of stores – and it wasn’t just the burgeoning economic crisis that forced the coffee chain to retrench.

By Benzinga: By Paul Quintaro Shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) rallied on Thursday, moving back into positive territory late in the afternoon session.

By Marek Fuchs:Speaking on CNBC yesterday, Starbucks' (SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz indicated that the long international nightmare that is Europe is over, saying he was seeing "glimpses of optimism" suggesting that "the worst is over."