In e-mail to customers, Starbucks CEO says 90 percent of China stores have re-opened as infections decline

This is good news, although you might miss it if you’re not reading carefully.

You’re probably on the receiving end of a lot of group e-mails these days – from everyone from your pastor to your kids’ principal to the owner of your favorite team – assuring you that they’re doing everything they can to keep you safe from coronavirus.

Angie got one this morning from Kevin Johnson, the CEO of Starbucks. A lot of it is the usual self-important sanctimony you get from Starbucks, about their “mission and values” and how they exist to “inspire and nurture the human spirit” when I could have sworn they just sell overpriced cups of mediocre coffee.

But if you keep reading, you learn something interesting – and encouraging – which is expanded upon in a company blog post that’s linked from Johnson’s e-mail:

Earlier this week, Wong got stuck in a traffic jam. She couldn’t have been happier, she said, after all of the weeks of isolation and people unable to go out, gather and connect. And, best of all, she said, as the number of new infections began to decline, Starbucks China was able to start re-opening doors again. On March 5, the company announced 90 percent of the stores are open again, operating under modified hours and conditions. Last week, the Shanghai Reserve Roastery re-opened after being closed for more than a month.

TRENDING: Trump Gets Rousing Response from Supporters as He Returns to Florida

“The night before it opened, I felt like a kid who was about to go on a picnic with classmates the next day. I went there and I was so happy to see our partners. I wanted to give them a hug but I couldn’t since it was contactless,” Wong said with a laugh.

Stores in China are still following safety protocols, but the ability to have human connection over a cup of coffee in a Starbucks is back.

This blog post is actually a week old, which means that as early as March 5, infections were already declining in China and these institutions were already opening back up – with people coming out to spend time there.

I realize this doesn’t prove anything definitive about what to expect in the U.S. or anywhere else, but to those insisting that this will only get worse and that it can’t be contained, the experience in China appears to be demonstrating otherwise.

We already told you this morning that the NBA has suspended its season for the time being, and this afternoon Major League Baseball owners have a conference call scheduled to discuss their options. I hope that when they make these decisions, they’re paying attention to what we’re hearing from China via Starbucks.

The economic impact of shutting everything down is nothing to be cavalier about, and no one even knows if it’s helping anything. But it does appear that in China, where the virus originated, things are getting better. I simply offer that up so you don’t have to go through your day hearing nothing but doom-and-gloom voices about this.

Because no one needs a day like that.