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