Emily Flippen

People demand the pizza, but they just want it from a gas station.

And I think this is what everybody is sleeping on.

I mean, I look at a business like Casey's General Store, the ticker C-A-S-Y.

They are the fifth largest pizza retailer in the United States, and they are a convenience store based in the Midwest.

Their inside sales, so sales made inside their locations, are driving massive comp growth in large part due to their prepared foods, and pizza is by far their most popular option.

And this is true across the board, even with private chains.

Sheetz, Buc-ee's, Wawa just introduced pizzas.

These gas stations are aware of the fact that people want cost and convenience.

And I think when you look at that difference, yeah, there are some elements of the K-shaped recovery with people in the middle class being squeezed especially.

But I think in this case, when you're looking at Chipotle and Kava and all these other brands that are saying they're losing share, they're losing share to convenience stores.

Yeah, you're right, John.

I do have thoughts for better or worse.

And I think my answer is a little complicated.

I think this is the right move for this management team.

But I think this is the wrong move for Starbucks and its shareholders.

I mean, look, this is Starbucks' new leadership just saying, hey, we're no longer the best owners of our business in China.

That's the truth, right?

They're exchanging being the leader that could be in Chinese coffee, and instead trading that for cash, lower risk, less assets.

And on a quantitative basis, this is really only a good move if their Chinese business continues to underperform.

But I actually think that's pretty unlikely.