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For fall fanatics nationwide, the return of Starbucks’s Pumpkin Spice Latte was an August highlight. But its safe to say that no one was happier than Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol. In a message sent to employees on September 1, Niccol shared that the coffeehouse’s fall menu launch on August 26 led to its strongest Tuesday sales day evermomentum that continued through the following days and ultimately notched a record-breaking sales week for the company. In response to Fast Company‘s request, Starbucks declined to share more specific numbers for the week’s sales. Every coffeehouse I visited this week was buzzing with energy, Niccol wrote in the memo. And Ive heard fantastic feedback from customers and partners that they see and feel the difference. Your passion is showing up in every cup and every interaction. Since exiting his post as the head of Chipotle last August to helm a beleaguered Starbucks, Niccol has been on a mission to turn the coffee chain around. So far, Starbuckss sales numbers have not entirely demonstrated that the chain is reboundingbut the fall launch might just be the data point Niccol needs to signal that an upward trajectory is finally incoming. Starbucks says it’s “gaining momentum” Niccols Back to Starbucks plan is pulling a few different levers at the company. To start, Starbucks is updating its in-store experience to align more closely with its early roots, bringing back more seating and personalized touches like handwritten notes on cups. Its also pivoting away from a pandemic-induced focus on mobile ordering in an attempt to reframe the coffee shop as a desirable third space. And, recently, the company has begun introducing new menu innovations geared toward younger customers, like a protein cold foam and a TikTok-inspired secret menu. Predictably, none of these moves has been a one-off fix to Starbuckss broader problems. On July 29, the company reported its sixth consecutive quarter of same-store sales declines (a metric that measures the revenue change of established locations over time). Revenue, however, was up 4%, to $9.6 billion. At the time, Niccol told investors in a video message: While our financial results dont yet reflect all the progress weve made, the signs are clearwere gaining momentum. He added in a press release that, based on his experience in turnarounds, the company is ahead of schedule. In 2026, well unleash a wave of innovation that fuels growth, elevates customer service, and ensures everyone experiences the very best of Starbucks, Niccol wrote. Right now, its too soon to tell how the fall menus early success will impact the companys fourth-quarter financials. But, given the undeniable fandom thats emerged around the PSL, it wouldnt exactly come as a surprise if the fall season helps nudge Niccols turnaround plan into high gear.
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Anna Wintour ended weeks of fashion-world speculation Tuesday when she named Chloe Malle her successor as head of editorial content at Voguebut the most powerful person in the business isn’t going anywhere. Wintour, 75, remains chief content officer for Condé Nast and global editorial director of American Vogue and the magazine’s 27 other editions. Malle, editor of Vogue.com, may be stepping into Wintour’s low-heeled slingbacks, but she’ll report to the original wearer while taking over day-to-day editorial and creative operations at the U.S. edition. And gone is the storied editor-in-chief title that Wintour held for nearly 40 years. Malle, 39, is the daughter of actor Candice Bergen and the late French director Louis Malle. She joined Vogue as social editor in 2011, moved on to contributing editor in 2016, and has held her current position since 2023. She steered all digital content for Vogue. In June, Malle interviewed the then-Lauren Sánchez ahead of her wedding to Jeff Bezos. Vogue has already shaped who I am. Now Im excited at the prospect of shaping Vogue, Malle said in the announcement. Malle had emerged as a front-runner Since late June, when Wintour told staff that she was giving up her title, a handful of names to succeed her were tossed around. Among them were Eva Chen, vice president of fashion partnerships at Meta; Nicole Phelps, global director of Vogue Runway and Vogue Business; and Sara Moonves, editor-in-chief of W magazine. Other names that floated about soon after the job went up for grabs were Vogues fashion news director Mark Holgate, British Vogues head of editorial content Chioma Nnadi, and Vogue.coms digital style director Leah Faye Cooper. Malle and Nnadi co-host the Vogue podcast, The Run-Through with Vogue. The news that Malle got the job comes ahead of the latest round of shows at New York Fashion Week, starting next week, and amid the Venice Film Festival, which includes a new documentary about her father. Her appointment is effective immediately. Malle’s mother, funnily enough, once played Vogue editor-in-chief Enid Frick on Sex and the City, with some very Wintour-like characteristics. Malle, a Brown graduate and mother of two young kids, has been outspoken about her liberal-leaning politics, just as Wintour has. I actually love working with Anna, because I love someone telling me exactly what needs to be done and exactly what she thinks about something, Malle said in a recent profile by The Independent. Theres no indecision. Theres no ambiguity. Vogue’s past . . . and future Vogue was founded as a society journal 134 years ago. After Condé Nast acquired it in 1909, it became a traditional industry mainstay with models on the cover, static close-up photography done in studios, and a focus on high fashion and heavy makeup. Wintour, a risk-taker who took over the title in 1988, saw the mass appeal in a broader approach. She expanded international editions, elevated fashion’s connections to pop culture, and began putting celebrities, athletes, music stars, and politicians on the covers. Wintour went for a high-low approach to fashion and favored storytelling in photo shoots done outdoors. She embraced then-emerging designers, including Marc Jacobs, John Galliano, and Alexander McQueen, through initiatives like the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. And she transformed the Met Gala from a small, private fundraiser to a global event and fashions most important night. Considered the fashion bible, American Vogue has had several notable editors throughout its history. Preceding Wintour were Diana Vreeland (1963 to 1971) and Grace Mirabella (1971 to 1988), among others. Chloe has proven often that she can find the balance between American Vogues long, singular history and its future on the front lines of the new, Wintour said in the statement on Malles appointment. Under Malles leadership, direct traffic to Vogue.com doubled, with massive growth across all key metrics, according to the statement on her new job. Site traffic now consistently reaches 14.5 million unique visitors monthly. The retirement of the editor-in-chief title brings Vogue in line with changes throughout the Condé Nast universe. When Radhika Jones stepped down as Vanity Fairs editor-in-chief earlier this year, her role was replaced by a global editorial director, found in Mark Guiducci. (Guiducci himself was tapped from Vogue, where he served most recently as creative editorial director.) American Vogue joins most every market where Condé Nast operates in the change to a head of editorial content, who reports to a global editorial director. Though Vogue has editions spanning the world, from Britain and France to China and India, Malle’s focus will be on American Vogue. Anna Wintour’s own future As Condé Nast’s chief content officer, Wintour will continue to oversee every brand, including Vogue, Wired, Vanity Fair, GQ, AD, Condé Nast Traveler, Glamour, Bon Appétit, Tatler, World of Interiors, Allure, and more, with the exception of The New Yorker, where editor David Remnick retains control. Wintour herself does have a boss. She reports to Roger Lynch, CEO of Condé Nast. In effect, the addition of a new editorial lead for Vogue U.S. will allow Wintour greater time and flexibility to support the other global markets that Condé Nast serves, said a Vogue statement in June. And it goes without saying, Wintour joked back then, that I plan to remain Vogues tennis and theater editor in perpetuity. She’s been a regular at this year’s U.S. Open, as in past years. She’ll remain at the helm of the annual Met Gala, a major fundraiser for the fashion wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And shell stay involved in Vogue World, a traveling fashion and cultural event the magazine began in 2022. Wintour explained the editor-in-chief shift this way: Anybody in a creative field knows how essential it is never to stop growing in ones work. When I became the editor of Vogue, I was eager to prove to all who might listen that there was a new, exciting way to imagine an American fashion magazine, she told staff. Now, I find that my greatest pleasure is helping the next generation of impassioned editors storm the field with their own ideas, supprted by a new, exciting view of what a major media company can be, she said. AP Leanne Italie, AP lifestyles writer
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Artificial intelligence chatbot makers OpenAI and Meta say they are adjusting how their chatbots respond to teenagers asking questions about suicide or showing signs of mental and emotional distress. OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, said Tuesday it is preparing to roll out new controls enabling parents to link their accounts to their teens’ accounts. Parents can choose which features to disable and receive notifications when the system detects their teen is in a moment of acute distress, according to a company blog post that says the changes will go into effect this fall. Regardless of a user’s age, the company says its chatbots will attempt to redirect the most distressing conversations to more capable AI models that can provide a better response. EDITORS NOTE This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. The announcement comes a week after the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, alleging that ChatGPT coached the California boy in planning and taking his own life earlier this year. Jay Edelson, the family’s attorney, on Tuesday described the OpenAI announcement as vague promises to do better and nothing more than OpenAIs crisis management team trying to change the subject. Altman “should either unequivocally say that he believes ChatGPT is safe or immediately pull it from the market, Edelson said. Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, also said it is now blocking its chatbots from talking with teens about self-harm, suicide, disordered eating, and inappropriate romantic conversations, and instead will direct them to expert resources. Meta already offers parental controls on teen accounts. A study published last week in the medical journal Psychiatric Services found inconsistencies in how three popular artificial intelligence chatbots responded to queries about suicide. The study by researchers at the Rand Corporation found a need for further refinement in ChatGPT, Googles Gemini, and Anthropics Claude. The researchers did not study Meta’s chatbots. The study’s lead author, Ryan McBain, said Tuesday that “its encouraging to see OpenAI and Meta introducing features like parental controls and routing sensitive conversations to more capable modelsbut these are incremental steps. Without independent safety benchmarks, clinical testing, and enforceable standards, were still relying on companies to self-regulate in a space where the risks for teenagers are uniquely high, said McBain, a senior policy researcher at Rand and assistant professor at Harvard Universitys medical school. By Matt O’ Brien, AP technology writer
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