• Nation's Restaurant News, Friday, October 22, 2010 10:15 AM

Starbucks has taken full ownership of Urban Coffee Opportunities, a rare 50/50 partnership with basketball great Earvin "Magic" Johnson's Los Angeles-based Johnson Development Corp., a division of Magic Johnson Enterprises. The company had opened more than 100 Starbucks locations in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Atlanta, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., since 1998, Lisa Jennings reports.

Johnson says his company "remains committed to serving urban America and we look forward to working with Starbucks on its community development initiatives." On Wednesday, the Los Angeles city council selected Magic Johnson Enterprises as among a group of retailers who will operate retail concessions in four terminals at Los Angeles International Airport.

"We are incredibly proud of the work this partnership has accomplished," says Starbucks president, chairman and CEO Howard Schultz. "Together, we opened several successful locations, including our Harlem store, which led the redevelopment of that now-vibrant neighborhood."

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