...and we had this dream to create a national brand around coffee and a unique experience in our stores...
...that, hopefully, we would be able to extend from the West Coast to around the country.
And from that point on, the dream started becoming a reality,...
...and it almost had a life of its own.
Almost everything we did worked, as we built this very unique brand around coffee.
And a very, I think also unique, values - based organization...
...around the culture and values of the company.
When you look at growth as a strategy,...
...it becomes somewhat seductive, addictive.
But growth should not be, and is not a strategy: it's a tactic.
The primary lesson that I've learned over the years is that growth and success can cover up a lot of mistakes.
When we came back, and I reviewed some of the underperforming stores,...
...I was horrified to learn that the stores that we ultimately had to close,...
...had been open less than 18 months.
And when you look at that,...
...the money invested and the money that we had to write off,...
...those decisions were made with a lack of discipline...
...that in part, were kind of complicit with the stock price.
And that's also I think, a very, very dangerous road to go down.
We've learned a great, great lesson.
And now, as we return the company to growth,...
...it'll be disciplined, profitable growth for the right reasons.
And a different kind of growth as the company has matured,...
...and most importantly, we've learned this lesson.
