• Seattle Times via Seacoast Online, Monday, November 19, 2007 11:15 AM

Starbucks is trying its first national TV campaign in an attempt to get more folks into its U.S. stores after a 1% drop in traffic. The traffic decline has the company's executive suite worried, and they are running a prime-time TV campaign between now and Christmas, while telling district managers to spend more time in stores and cut back on the variety of drinks served. But they pin most of the blame on rising gasoline prices, the real estate meltdown and other economic woes.

At the same time, competitors like McDonald's -- which has built coffee into a $900 million-a-year business -- are moving aggressively into Starbucks' turf. But company chairman Howard Schultz says Starbucks is committed to remaining on top. "We understand all too well that we've built a very attractive business for others to look at and try to take away," he says.

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