Black Box - March
Like Knapp, Black Box showed very strong numbers for March, driven by California. Sales and traffic easing in 1Q22 versus 4Q21.
Howard ramps up anti-union rhetoric
SBUX is a Short - The war that the CEO is waging against the unions makes the stock uninvestable for the time being. The cost to shareholders will come from damage to the brand, lost sales, and significantly higher expenses.
Howard Schultz is ramping up its campaign against a unionization push in its U.S. stores, saying new benefits being developed for chain employees legally can’t be extended to unionized locations. WSJ Once workers have unionized, the law states that employers can’t unilaterally change compensation and other terms for those workers without bargaining with their union, said Cathy Creighton, director of the Cornell University ILR Buffalo Co-Lab and a past attorney for the NLRB. But an employer can ask unionized workers if they also want additional benefits. “It’s a union avoidance technique,” Ms. Creighton said, referring to employers discussing benefits that won’t automatically extend to unionized workers.
