Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) is turning its coffee shops into a test lab from which to launch new grocery store products to hawk.



Chart Courtesy of StockCharts.com

Howard Schulz is back at the helm of Starbucks. And that means that ideas, concepts, strategies, and perhaps better performance for the stock may lie ahead.

To be sure, Mr. Schulz may come down with a case of Michael Dell disease, meaning that his return from a sabbatical may not have been a good idea. But, so far, Schulz's return hasn't been bad for the coffee giant.

His store closings, and tightening of the purse have helped the company's bottom line. The problem with Starbucks, though, aside from incresing competition, is the economy. It's hard to sell expensively perceived coffee during hard times.

Which is where the new products and the grocery store outlets seem to come into the picture. The Via instant coffee line had $100 million in sales last year and is now sold in supermarkets, expanding its potential reach.

Schulz is also ramping up more Via products, expanding the Tazo tea line, and trying to expand the reach of the Seattle's Best Coffee product line as well as expanding the use of its grocery store based outlets as a place where customers can sample new products and then get them off the store shelves.

It's all two yards and a cloud of dust type stuff. But in this economy, it makes sense. We'll be watching the shares in the next few days. On 8-18, they found support at the 200-day moving average after their recent decline.

That suggests that value money, long term investors (there may be some left out there) may be nibbling.

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