Credit Union Branches Have a Starbucks Problem

For the first time in eight quarters, Starbucks just grew U.S. comparable transactions — and for the first time since 2022, it grew them across both Rewards members and non-members. The Q1 fiscal 2026 print — net revenue up 6% to $9.9 billion, for the quarter ended December 28, 2025 — landed in the January 28 earnings release. The trade press read it as a CEO turnaround story.

It is not a CEO turnaround story. It is a service-model diagnostic, and the credit union branch network is the next institution running the same broken play.