Archrivals Storm Starbucks

McDonald's is making serious inroads in the coffee wars, while Dunkin' Donuts and Tim Hortons are rapidly expanding

by Aaron Pressman

Take a quick drive on a weekday morning through Needham, Mass., a typical suburban community outside Boston, and you'll see hordes of commuters queuing up for their morning joe. A Dunkin' Donuts that opened a few years ago along the main drag is the busiest spot, followed by a McDonald's (MCD) that serves Paul Newman's organic coffee for free to early risers. The least busy spot? A Starbucks (SBUX) across from one of the town's four commuter rail stations.

Once the undisputed king of premium brew, Starbucks is suddenly besieged by tough competitors. McDonald's, the $22 billion-a-year restaurant Goliath is probably the biggest threat. Then there are Dunkin' Donuts, expanding under a trio of buyout companies that took the company private last year, and Canadian invader Tim Hortons (THI), growing in the lower 48 thanks to a fresh capital infusion from its U.S. initial public offering in March, 2006.

As a result, 2007 is expected to be Starbucks' third straight year of declining revenue growth. The company has bolstered earnings-per-share growth by spending almost $600 million to buy back 18 million shares of stock in the first half of the year. Yet the once high-flying stock has thudded to earth, dropping almost 30% since last November.

In the second quarter, the company reported that foot traffic at its U.S. stores had failed to grow for the first time ever. The 3% to 7% same-store sales growth that the company itself is projecting for 2007 would be the lowest ever. And a few weeks ago, Michael Casey, chief financial officer at Starbucks, said the company was finding it "very challenging in the current environment" to meet its earnings forecast for the year. He reiterated that Starbucks would stick with a reduced target of opening about 1,700 new U.S. stores for the next several years, in contrast to the rapid pace of increasing openings in past years.

McDonald's Goes Organic?

Meanwhile, growth at the mature McDonald's chain has taken off. Sales rose almost 13% in the month of June from a year ago, including a more than 8% increase at stores open at least a year. The company credits a powerful surge in its breakfast business, thanks in large part to the new coffee line. Mickey D's java won a Consumer Reports blind taste test against Starbucks and other brands in February.

McDonald's coffee expansion kicked off with a TV ad campaign last year aimed squarely at Starbucks customers. In one spot, a group of schoolteachers look out a window at a McDonald's below. Another teacher emerges from the restaurant, coffee cup in hand, and declares, "It's good." (See BusinessWeek.com, 7/18/06, "Whose Customers Is McDonald's Luring With Coffee?") The chain also has been retooling many of its restaurants to feature more Starbucks-like lounge areas (see BusinessWeek.com, 5/15/06, "Mickey D's McMakeover") and "McDonald's Tricky Makeover".

"Nothing Out of the Ordinary"

At the same time, Starbucks appears to be struggling, as Founder and Chairman Howard Schultz admitted in an internal memo that found its way onto the Internet in February.