Starbucks Plans 400 More Stores, Invests Online

Starbucks Corp. said Thursday that it plans to spend about $300 million in its current fiscal year to open at least 400 coffee shops and is investing in two Internet ventures.

Starbucks, the largest U.S. specialty-coffee retailer, spent a total of $28.3 million on investments in Campbell, Calif.-based Talk City Inc., which develops online communities for other Internet companies, and closely held Living.com, a Texas-based online retailer of furniture and other products, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Starbucks fell 25 cents to $25.25, while Talk City rose 31 cents to $21.88, both on Nasdaq.

Chief Executive Howard Schultz has been investing in online companies that sell furniture and other household goods to widen Starbucks’ visibility on the fast-growing Internet market. At the same time, Starbucks has continued to expand its main coffee-shop franchise while entering supermarkets and other outlets with packaged and bottled coffee and ice cream.

Seattle-based Starbucks spent $261.8 million to open 460 stores in its past fiscal year ended Oct. 3, and to remodel some of its existing stores. The company didn’t specify in the filing where it will open new stores this year.

The retailer operates more than 2,600 coffee shops in North America, Britain, Asia and the Middle East, and sells whole-bean coffees in supermarkets and online.