Starbucks brings back some policies taken away during COVID, including free refills, condiment bars [Video]

Changes at Starbucks might remind customers of the chain of the old.

Beginning Monday, several policies are returning to Starbucks’ locations in the United States and Canada – part of CEO Brian Niccol’s Herculean task of reversing sales and traffic declines at the struggling institution.

The chain is bringing back condiment bars after they were taken away during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and baristas will return to hand-writing customers’ names on their cups using Sharpies. Both changes are part of Starbucks’ plans to reboot the coffee house vibe that’s diminished in recent years.

The return of milk and sugar stations are a small step for Starbucks, but it represents something much bigger for the world’s largest coffee chain. It’s an acknowledgment that Starbucks went too far in overloading its baristas with endless ways to prepare drinks.

Niccol said in a previous earnings call that “our customers are asking for it and our baristas are saying it would help them deliver …