Starbucks reports sales declines

Starbucks reports sales declines

DES MOINES, United States: Starbucks Corp. said it is experiencing some sales declines in parts of Asia due to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

The world's largest specialty coffee retailer has closed one outlet, located in a quarantined hospital in Singapore where SARS patients are being treated, company spokeswoman Katherine Cheng told Dow Jones Newswires on Thursday.

"As SARS is becoming more serious, we're seeing sales starting to decline" in Hong Kong and Singapore, she said. Starbucks has about three dozen stores in each of those markets.

Employees in its Hong Kong outlets are wearing masks and gloves while serving customers, the spokeswoman said. Government- recommended cleaning procedures are being followed there and elsewhere, Cheng said.

The company has had no reports of employees contracting the illness, she added.

Starbucks operates also stores in mainland China, but Cheng said, "We have not heard anything from our China markets" regarding SARS' potential impact. -- Dow Jones