NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 4, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it lowered its ratings on Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. to 'BBB' from 'BBB+.' We affirmed the 'A-2' short-term rating. At the same time, we removed the ratings from CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed July 2, 2008; the outlook is stable. "Weakening credit metrics caused by poor operating trends over the past three quarters were the primary cause for the downgrade," explained Standard&Poor's credit analyst Jackie E. Oberoi. Other factors include growth that will be far slower than our previous expectations, and a potential temporary disruption to operations while the company both closes approximately 600 stores over the next three quarters and implements
