BY JOHN JANNARONE
in retail, success comes with a curse. a long line of retailers have been tempted into rapid store growth to maximize sales, only to hit a wall and need to shrink.
Starbucks may be the best example. It likely set a record for the fastest long-term expansion of any big retailer. Morgan Stanley's John Glass says Starbucks added U.S. stores at an annual 27% rate from 1995 to 2005, reaching almost 12,000. That is even faster than the 17% rate of McDonald's from 1965 to 1975.
That changed a few ...