• The New York Times, Wednesday, January 30, 2008 11:45 AM

Facing slowing sales growth and increased competition nationwide, Starbuck's founder and recently reinstalled CEO Howard D. Schultz is scheduled to roll out a revitalization plan today that will almost certainly involve shutting down stores in the United States while accelerating expansion overseas. Details remained under wraps.

Schultz faces a difficult task: He has to slow down the company to make stores feel more like hip neighborhood coffeehouses, while also delivering the steady growth that investors have come to expect. Marc Greenberg, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, says the primary problem for Starbucks is simple: "It's being overbuilt, classic over-saturation."

Officially, Schultz has not given up the goal of opening 40,000 stores worldwide. Wall Street will be watching closely to see how he reconciles that plan with the need to refocus the U.S. business.

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