Good morning. As Starbucks tries to evoke nostalgia for its brand, the company is undergoing a major restructuring, including corporate layoffs and costly changes as part of its turnaround plan. This move highlights the importance for companies to stay focused on what customers love, or risk losing ground to competitors.
The Starbucks board approved a $1 billion restructuring plan this week that will close underperforming coffeehouses and reshape its corporate support organization under the “Back to Starbucks” strategy, according to an SEC filing. About 90% of these expenses will come from its North American business, and most costs will hit in fiscal 2025.
The plan includes closing at least 100 North American cafes and remodeling over 1,000 locations. Starbucks expects its company-operated store count in North America to decline by about 1%, according to a letter from CEO Brian Niccol to employees on Sept. 25. The company had 18,734 stores as of June 29.
Starbucks will eliminate about 900 non-retail partner roles and many open positions. Affected employees will be notified on Sept. 26 and offered severance and support packages, including extended benefits.
The company’s goal is to put resources “closest to the customer so we can create great coffeehouses, offer world-class customer service, and grow the business,” Niccol wrote. Starbucks is pivoting from mobile-only “pickup” stores, which it thought would appeal to customers, especially younger generations. There’s now an effort to recreate a “third place”—a location between home and work to spend time, which once fueled Starbucks’ popularity.
‘A leaner corporate structure’
The Fortune 500 company (No. 126) has experienced six consecutive quarters of declining same-store sales, which is a measure of performance at individual locations. Starbucks’ market share among Gen Z has slipped from 67% to 61% over the past two years, marking four consecutive quarters of declines, according to Consumer Edge, Fortune reported.
Morningstar equity analyst Dan Su told me that Starbucks is prioritizing investments in stores to revive growth and strengthen its long-term competitive position, funding these changes with cuts to corporate roles. “A leaner corporate structure may make decision-making more efficient during the turnaround,” he said.
Robert Kelley, professor of management at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, said successful turnarounds must make strategic and financial sense to customers, employees, shareholders, and other stakeholders. “The CEO and CFO need to convince all these groups that their plan will work,” he added, stressing transparency.
This is Starbucks’ second round of corporate layoffs in less than a year. Kelley explained that non-retail layoffs are common and the retail side is the “critical path,” referring to his 2021 book, “The Critical Path Manifesto.” The retail side is where you serve your customers, therefore leading to revenues and cash flow, he said. “Many corporate jobs are cost centers, not revenue producers.”
Brian Niccol became CEO in September 2024 after leading Chipotle. Cathy Smith joined as CFO in March, bringing turnaround experience from Walmart, Nordstrom, and Target. Smith helped Target and Nordstrom recapture what customers loved about their brands during critical periods.
“All brands drift over time, and I have pattern recognition,” Smith told Fortune in April. “I’ve seen this with a number of brands, and the great ones recapture what made them great,” she said.
Su noted that Smith has said she’d use zero-based budgeting to evaluate costs and boost margins. “I expect Smith to focus on labor productivity in stores, and efficiencies in corporate spending.”
Reviving Starbucks’ coffee culture may depend on it.
Simon Edwards was appointed CFO of Groq, an AI company that develops hardware and software, including the Language Processing Unit. Edwards most recently served as CFO at Conga, overseeing finance, corporate development, and legal. He was previously CFO of ServiceMax, where he helped lead the company to profitability and expansion, culminating in its 2023 acquisition by PTC. Earlier, he held senior finance roles at GE, including CFO of GE Digital.
James Shen was appointed interim CFO at GitLab, effective Sept. 20, according to an SEC filing. Brian Robins stepped down from his roles as CFO and chief accounting officer at GitLab to become finance chief at Snowflake. Shen has served as VP of finance at GitLab.
Christy Schwartz was appointed interim CFO of Opendoor Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: OPEN), effective as of Sept. 30, replacing Selim Freiha, the company’s CFO, according to an SEC filing. Schwartz served as the company’s interim CFO from December 2022 to November 2024, and its chief accounting officer from March 2021 to May 2025. Before that, she served as Opendoor’s VP, corporate controller from August 2016 to March 2021.
Bonnie Boyer was appointed CFO of Guident Corp., an autonomous vehicle teleoperation, effective immediately. Boyer brings over 15 years of financial leadership experience. Most recently, she served as chief accounting officer at Sagent M&C, a SaaS provider in the mortgage technology sector.
Steve Kinsey, CFO of Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO), plans to retire at the end of 2025 after 36 years of service, including the last 18 as chief financial officer. The company has initiated a search for Kinsey’s successor. Following his retirement, Mr. Kinsey is expected to continue to serve in an advisory role for a period of time. Flowers operates bakeries across the country. Among the company’s top brands are Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, and Tastykake.
Cornelis (Carlo) Broos was promoted to CFO of Cibus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBUS), a biotechnology company, according to an SEC filing. Broos has served as interim CFO of Cibus since October 2024 and previously held the position of SVP of finance. He joined Cibus in 2011. Before joining the company, Broos held finance leadership positions at Syngenta Europe Africa Middle East, Syngenta Netherlands and Belgium, Advanta, and Deloitte Netherlands.
David Croxville was appointed CFO of C1, a technology solutions and services company. Croxville brings more than 30 years of experience. Most recently, he served as EVP and CFO of NTT DATA Services in the Americas, where he led finance, procurement, real estate, and IT across 44 countries, and completed more than 10 acquisitions, including Dell Services.
Brett Summerer was appointed CFO of Accel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: ACEL), a gaming operator, effective Sept. 22. Summerer succeeds Mark Phelan, who has served as acting CFO in addition to his ongoing role as president, U.S. Gaming. His prior leadership roles at Kraft Heinz, Corning, and General Motors included managing global P&Ls and leading strategic initiatives. Most recently, Summerer served as CFO of Verano Holdings.
Josh Greear was appointed CFO of Authority Brands, a multi-brand franchisor in the home services sector. Greear has more than 25 years of experience in franchising, financial leadership, and business strategy. He most recently served as CFO at Primrose Schools, a national early education and care franchise. Before that, Greear held senior leadership roles, including VP of strategy and business development at Cracker Barrel.
Big Deal
Indeed’s “AI at Work Report 2025” finds that generative AI (GenAI) is transforming job skills rather than replacing jobs entirely. The report suggests GenAI will primarily augment human work, allowing focus on higher-level tasks, with technology skills being most susceptible to transformation while physical and human-centric roles remain less affected.
Going deeper
Here are four Fortune weekend reads:
Overheard
“I would make something with AI that that team is probably not using or doing. I would send it to everybody on that team and I’d say, ‘look, I built this for you, and I doubt you have this, and if you hire me, I will build more of it.’”
—MasterClass CEO David Rogier told Fortune in an interview. Rogier explained that there are ways for young people to stand out in an AI-driven job market. His advice includes picking an industry that sparks interest, immersing yourself in its challenges, and using AI to build something the team doesn’t already have.
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I love watching “Next Man Up” basketball, where the spotlight rotates unpredictably. One night it’s the bench guard dropping 30, the next it’s the role player posting a triple-double.
CapitalG’s Jill Chase—who captained her college basketball team at Williams College—says this logic actually applies to Alphabet’s growth firm. When I ask her what basketball team is most like CapitalG, she lists the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries.
“Everybody has a different skill set, and everybody is willing to drop anything to help each other win,” said Chase. “It’s a different person every night who wins the game. And I think that’s really consistent with the way CapitalG is building its culture.”
For the first time since the firm was started in 2013, it’s promoting two general partners, Chase and Alex Nichols, Fortune has exclusively learned. Chase, who joined CapitalG in 2020 specifically with a thesis around AI, has backed Abridge, Baseten, Canva, LangChain, Physical Intelligence, and Rippling.
Nichols, meanwhile, joined CapitalG in 2018 as an associate and was promoted to partner just two years ago. He previously worked with managing partner Laela Sturdy on the firm’s investments in Duolingo, Stripe, and Whatnot, and recently led CapitalG’s investment in Zach Dell’s energy startup BasePower. At a moment where there’s mounting angst around data centers and what it will take to power them, Nichols has a surprising take on how AI will affect energy—that both batteries and solar are getting cheaper and better at something like Moore’s Law speed. Those twin cost curves, over time, should actually drive energy prices down.
“I’m actually very optimistic about the future of energy prices,” he said. “You look at the history of energy consumption versus GDP. And cheap energy means more production, more income, and means a higher standard of living.”
At a moment when venture is perhaps more competitive than ever—and there are certainly some solo GPs out there making their mark—there’s an argument that as lines blur between disciplines in an AI-ified world, venture is by necessity a team sport.
Sturdy—who’s been CapitalG’s managing partner since 2023 (and also captained her college basketball team)—and Chase both have clearly taken some learnings from their time on the court. Chase sees venture overall as becoming more team-oriented: “Historically, it used to be like ‘you made general partner, go out and win your deal.’ To me, that’s not the right way to be successful in venture ever.”
Sturdy adds that in basketball, like venture, “We have to look at the scoreboard every once in a while, and you have to get back up when you get crushed… And, of course, coming together is better than playing alone.”
Term Sheet Podcast…This week, I spoke with Exelon CEO Calvin Butler. As resource-hungry data centers continue to sprout across the country, many are questioning whether the nation’s utility network can keep pace with such large-scale demand. Butler says it can. Listen and watch here.
Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.Subscribe here.
VENTURE CAPITAL
– humans&, a San Francisco-based AI lab, raised $480 million in seed funding. SVAngel and GeorgesHarik led the round and were joined by NVIDIA and others.
– Emergent, a San Francisco-based platform designed for AI software creation, raised $70 million in Series B funding. Khosla Ventures and SoftBank led the round and were joined by Prosus, Lightspeed, Together, and Y Combinator.
– Exciva, a Heidelberg, Germany-based developer of therapeutics designed for neuropsychiatric conditions, raised €51 million ($59 million) in Series B funding. Gimv and EQTLifeSciences led the round and were joined by FountainHealthcarePartners, LifeArcVentures, and others.
– Pomelo, a Buenos Aires, Argentina-based payments infrastructure company, raised $55 million in Series C funding. Kaszek and InsightPartners led the round and were joined by IndexVentures, AdamsStreetPartners, S32, and others.
– Cloover, a Berlin, Germany-based operating system designed for energy independence, raised $22 million in Series A funding. MMCVentures and QEDInvestors led the round and were joined by LowercarbonCapital, BNVTCapital, BoschVentures, and others.
– Statusphere, a Winter Park, Fla.-based influencer marketing technology platform, raised $18 million in Series A funding. VolitionCapital led the round and was joined by HearstLab, 1984Ventures, and HowWomenInvest.
– DominionDynamics, an Ottawa, Canada-based defense technology company, raised $21M CAD ($15.2M USD) in seed funding. Georgian led the round and was joined by BessemerVenturePartners and BritishColumbiaInvestmentManagementCorporation.
– Cosmos, a New York City-based image collection and discovery platform, raised $15 million in Series A funding. ShineCapital led the round and was joined by Matrix and others.
– Mave, a Toronto, Canada-based real estate AI company, raised $5 million in seed funding from StaircaseVentures, RelayVentures, N49P, and AlatePartners.
– Stilla, a Stockholm, Sweden-based developer of an AI designed to accommodate entire teams, raised $5 million in pre-seed funding. GeneralCatalyst led the round and was joined by others.
– AsymmetricSecurity, a London, U.K. and San Francisco-based cyber forensics company, raised $4.2 million in pre-seed funding. SusaVentures led the round and was joined by HalcyonVentures, OverlookVentures, and angel investors.
PRIVATE EQUITY
– ConnectWise, backed by ThomaBravo, acquired zofiQ, a Toronto, Ontario-based agentic AI technology company designed to automate high-service desk operations. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– GrantAvenueCapital acquired 21stCenturyHealthcare, a Tempe, Ariz.-based vitamins, minerals, and supplements company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– HighlanderPartners acquired Tapatio, a Vernon, Calif.-based hot sauce brand. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– PlatinumEquity acquired CzarnowskiCollective, a Chicago, Ill.-based exhibit and events company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– UnitedBuildingSolutions, backed by AEIndustrial, acquired DFWMechanicalGroup, a Wylie, Texas-based HVAC solutions company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
IPOS
– PicPay, a Sao Paolo, Brazil-based digital bank, now plans to raise up to $435.1 million in an offering of 22.9 million shares priced between $16 and $19 on the Nasdaq. The company posted $1.7 billion in revenue for the year ended September 30. J&F International and BancoOriginal back the company.
– EthosTechnologies, a San Francisco-based online life insurance provider, plans to raise up to $210 million in an offering of 10.5 million shares priced between $18 and $20. The company posted $344 million in revenue for the year ended Sept. 30. GeneralCatalyst, HeroicVentures, EricLantz, and others back the company.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
– BlueprintEquity, a La Jolla, Calif.-based growth equity firm, raised $333 million for its third fund focused on enterprise software, business-to-business, and tech-enabled services companies.
PEOPLE
– Area 15 Ventures, a Castle Pine, Colo.-based venture capital firm, promoted AdamContos to managing partner.
– BullCityVenturePartners, a Durham, N.C.-based venture capital firm, hired CarlyConnell as a principal.
– HarvestPartners, a New York City-based private equity firm, promoted LucasRodgers to partner, MatthewBruckmann and IanSingleton to principal, and ConnorScro to vice president on the private equity team.
– Wingman Growth Partners, a Greenwich, Conn.-based private equity firm, hired CheriReeve as CFO. She previously served as principal and CFO at AtlasHoldings.
Davos 2026: reading the signals, not the headlines | Fortune
Louisa Loran advises boards and leadership teams on transformation and long-term value creation and currently serves on the boards of Copenhagen Business School and CataCap Private Equity.At Google, Louisa launched a billion-dollar supply chain solutions business, doubled growth in a global industry vertical, and led strategic business transformation for the company’s largest customers in EMEA—working at the forefront of AI, data, and platform innovation. At Maersk, she co-authored the strategy that redefined the brand globally and doubled its share price, helping pivot the company from traditional shipping to integrated logistics. Her career began in the luxury and FMCG space with Moët Hennessy and Diageo, where she built iconic brands and led innovation at the intersection of heritage and digital transformation.
China’s hotels are welcoming record numbers of travelers, yet room rates are sinking—a paradox many operators blame on Trip.com Group Ltd.
For Gary Huang, running a five-room homestay in the scenic Huzhou hills near Shanghai was supposed to secure his family’s financial future. Instead, he and other hoteliers in China’s southeastern Zhejiang province say nightly rates have fallen to levels last seen more than a decade ago, as Trip.com’s frequent discount campaigns force them to cut prices simply to remain visible on China’s dominant booking platform.
“The promotion campaigns now are almost a daily routine,” said Huang, who asked to use his self-given English name out of concern of speaking out against Trip.com. “We have to constantly cut prices at least 15% to attract travelers. We have no choice but to go along with the price cuts.”
Trip.com has been central to China’s post-pandemic travel rebound, connecting millions of travelers with small operators like Huang. But for many hotels, visibility—and sometimes survival—comes at the expense of profits.
That dynamic is now at the heart of Beijing’s antitrust probe. Regulators allege Trip.com is abusing its market position, with analysts citing deflation across the sector as the government’s main concern. Interviews with lodging operators, industry groups and travel consultants describe a system where constant price-cutting and opaque policies are eroding profitability, even as demand rebounds.
Trip.com has said it’s cooperating with the government’s investigation. The company’s stock dove more 16% since the probe was announced a week ago.
Revenue per room—a key hotel metric—was flat across China in 2025, even as other Asian markets saw gains, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Marriott International Inc.’s revenue per room in China fell 1% most of last year, while Hilton’s China room revenue trailed its regional peers.
The company controls about 56% of China’s online travel market, according to China Trading Desk, and has grown into the world’s largest booking site. Its dominance has helped fuel domestic tourism’s recovery—nearly 5 billion trips were logged in the first three quarters of 2025—but operators say the benefits are being offset by falling room yields.
“The market has developed unevenly and innovation is lacking due to monopolistic practices,” said He Shuangquan, head of the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Homestay Industry Association that represents some 7,000 operators. “The entire online travel agency sector is stagnating in a pool of dead water.”
‘Pick-one-of-two’
The broader challenge is oversupply and cautious consumer spending. In regions like Yunnan, hotel capacity has tripled since the pandemic, just as travelers tightened budgets. Consultants note that while people are traveling more, they’re spending less—leaving hotels slashing rates to fill empty beds and posting billions in losses.
For operators like Huang, the paradox is stark: the platform that delivers customers is also accelerating the race to the bottom. The complaints center around Trip.com’s “er xuan yi,” Mandarin for pick-one-of-two exclusivity arrangements—a practice that Chinese regulators have repeatedly vowed to stamp out.
Trip.com categorizes merchants into tiers with “Special Merchants” enjoying the most visibility and traffic, Yunnan Provincial Tourism’s He said. However, these top-tier merchants are typically prohibited from listing on rival platforms like Alibaba’s Fliggy, ByteDance’s Douyin or Meituan. Merchants who aren’t bound by these exclusive arrangements report being effectively compelled to offer the lowest prices on Trip.com’s online booking platform Ctrip, or risk facing a raft of measures like lowered search rankings.
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