"Business generosity is in job generation, investing in communities you do business in, and really expanding on the philanthropic efforts by giving back to communities we do business in. For example, community housing and community development in Harlem. A few weeks ago we announced a new program where the profits of one of the stores is going directly to the community in Harlem, that serves that customer base in our store there." -- Arthur Rubinfeld
What is the business case for generosity?
As president, Starbucks Global Development, Arthur Rubinfeld and his team are responsible for strategic site selection, design and creative concepting for the nearly 17,000 Starbucks stores around the world. He leads Starbucks global store design strategy, an effort to reinvigorate the customer experience by reflecting the character of each store’s surrounding neighborhood and help to reduce environmental impacts.
Arthur and his team are intently focused on incorporating green building and energy conservation initiatives into our store designs to help Starbucks reach its global environmental goal of building all new company-operated stores to meet LEED® (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) standards and
enhance the “Starbucks Experience."
Arthur returned to Starbucks in February 2008 after initially leading store development for ten years through the crucial growth period of the company’s history from 1992-2002. As senior vice president of real estate and store development, he played a major role in creating the customer experience that defines Starbucks as the company grew from just 100 stores to over 4,000 worldwide.
In 2002, Arthur founded AIRVISION, an advisory firm specializing in developing brand positioning, growth strategies and operational plans for clients, including adidas, Omaha Steaks, Oakley and Microsoft.
Arthur is well-known for his leading-edge, visionary work in the areas of retail design and architecture, and is author of Built for Growth: Expanding Your Business Around the Corner or Across the Globe. He is a registered architect and accredited by the National Council of Architectural Review Boards (NCARB) and holds a master of architecture and bachelor of environmental design degrees from the University of Colorado. He is married with two children, and lives in Seattle.