Starbucks hopes ugly sweaters lead to a pretty bottom line this holiday

Starbucks, which has seen its sales soar during the holiday season in recent years, says it will add several new limited-time items to its seasonal menu in the coming weeks — including an ugly sweater cookie and a holiday spice flat white — as the company looks to continue its Christmas-time winning streak.

America’s second-biggest quick service restaurant chain reported global same-store sales were up 5%, with a 2% increase in store traffic, for the first fiscal quarter in 2015. That surge is driven by sales during last year’s holiday season, the most successful holiday period in company history.

The company reported one in seven adults received a pre-paid Starbucks card as a gift over the holiday season last year – up from one in eight during holiday 2013.

Executives for the Seattle-based coffee chain believe there’s still room for growth. They are betting a whimsical cookie, a Christmas blend espresso roast and a twist on the popular flat white beverage can further drive sales this year..

“We see the opportunity to serve more customers and engage them in different ways,” says Cliff Burrows, Starbucks group president who oversees the company's U.S. operations. “We also know that people are treating themselves and going out of routine. From our side, we’re thinking ‘How do we join in the season?’”

The company says it will start selling the new espresso blend on Nov. 10. The holiday spice flat white will be available starting Nov. 30. The new cookie will come out on Dec. 18, which is recognized as Ugly Sweater Day.

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While many bricks-and-mortar retail outlets are losing ground to Web shopping during the season, the holidays have been good to Starbucks. Sales of its limited-time holiday beverage items — such as the gingerbread latte, peppermint mocha and the chestnut praline latte — delivered 9% year-over-year growth last year.

The company says roughly 2.6 million pre-paid Starbucks cards were activated on one day last year, Dec. 23. In addition, $1.6 billion was loaded on cards in the U.S. and Canada during the first quarter of 2015, driven by holiday gift giving. Starbucks also counted nearly 900,000 customers enrolling in the company’s rewards program during the last holiday season.

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The new holiday spice flat white features shots of the company’s Christmas blend espresso and a blend of mulling spices (ground sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove and a hint of tangerine sugar).

Other new items set for the holiday season include a Teavana Gingerbread Tea Latte, mini snowman doughnuts and a new tumbler and ornament collection celebrating several big American cities.