NEWSMAKERS
NEWSMAKERS
Starbucks, Oprah have tea partnership
SEATTLE
Starbucks Corp. has just brandished a new weapon in its battle to rule the global tea market while keeping its soul: Oprah Winfrey.
Winfrey joined Chief Executive Howard Schultz on stage at the company’s annual shareholders meeting Wednesday to announce the release of Teavana Oprah Chai — a blend designed in part by the superstar. For each Oprah Chai product sold, the company will make a donation to her youth-education initiatives.
Starbucks’ deal with Winfrey comes as the Seattle coffee giant seeks to reassure investors that it can keep growing. On Wednesday, Schultz said that the company can attain a market capitalization of $100 billion, up from about $57 billion now.
But for that, Starbucks needs new markets, and tea represents a $90 billion market opportunity that the company can disrupt in the same way it transformed the coffee market, company executives say.
Fonda, Tomlin team up for a Netflix sitcom
NEW YORK
Netflix says it’s reuniting Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin for a new comedy series.
The online TV network will launch “Grace and Frankie” starring Fonda and Tomlin as longtime foes who come together when their husbands desert them after falling in love.
The single-camera comedy will film a first season of 13 half-hour episodes to premiere on Netflix next year.
The two actresses co-starred a quarter-century ago in the comedy hit “Nine to Five.”
Fonda recently appeared on HBO’s “The Newsroom” and was seen in the film “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.” Tomlin appeared in last year’s Tina Fey comedy, “Admission.”
Marta Kauffman is a writer and creator of “Grace and Frankie.” She is a creator of the sitcom classic “Friends.”
Combined dispatches