As restaurants and retail blur, what might the new sector look like?

A couple of issues back, I talked about the blurring boundaries of restaurants and retail and the potential for the emergence of an entirely new sector.

In this issue, I look at what is happening in that blurred segment how Starbucks is navigating through what founder, Howard Schultz rather grandly called the “third Space” – that space between home and work where community happens. Recent developments at the coffee giant offer a lens through which to examine how established players are adapting to new realities.

In the numbers, I look at the correlation between fuel prices and restaurant spending and its surprising relevance to forecasting.

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