Starbucks Hits Choppy Waters.com

While it's true that Starbucks is one of the notable retailers that can't sell its core product over the Internet, the Seattle-based coffee company nonetheless invested heavily in e-commerce. It spent more than $60 million to invest in Kozmo.com (online delivery service), Cooking.com (cooking information and gourmet supplies), Talkcity.com (online chat site) and Living.com (furniture e-retailer). Now it has announced that it expects to take a fiscal fourth-quarter charge of $20.6 million to write down its investment in Living.com, which has filed for bankruptcy and asset liquidation. What's more, Kozmo.com laid off 275 workers this month.

“We are no longer looking at other Internet-related opportunities,” says Starbucks cfo Michael Casey. “This is the final chapter on that strategy.”