Starbucks eyes movies and books to expand caffeine empire

RAW STORY
Published: Sunday April 30, 2006

Buoyed by the success of its partnerships with the music industry, Starbucks is seeking to expand into films and books with the help of an influential talent agency, reports the New York Times on Monday, RAW STORY has found.

Excerpts from the article written by Sharon Waxman:

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With barely one movie under its belt, Starbucks is moving aggressively toward expanding its involvement in the entertainment business, seeking movies and books to promote in the hope of duplicating the success it has had with music.

The retail coffee giant -- which used its stores to promote "Akeelah and the Bee," a Lionsgate movie that opened this weekend -- is to announce Monday that it has signed an agreement with the William Morris Agency to find more movie and book projects to market. The aim is to have one book in Starbucks stores this year, and at least two or three movies to promote and sell on DVD next year, with more projects in years to come.

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Howard D. Schultz, the company's chairman, said that after promoting "Akeelah," film distributors who hope to be Starbucks' next movie partner deluged Starbucks with material. It was clear, he said, that the company needed more expertise in handling that work.

He said it was not Starbucks' goal to become an entertainment-business investor, although the company's promotion of "Akeelah" gave it an undisclosed equity stake in that film.

Instead, Schultz said, it will selectively link the Starbucks brand with certain kinds of movies and books in the belief that Starbucks customers trust the company, in essence, to choose their entertainment for them.

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FULL RESTRICTED ARTICLE HERE