It's all about dollars, scents

NEW YORK - Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee shop chain, will keep selling warm breakfast sandwiches at its stores after altering the recipes to minimize the smell.

Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, 55, earlier said the chain would discontinue breakfast sandwiches by Sept. 30 because their smell overwhelmed the aroma of coffee in the cafes.

"We are not reversing our decision to replace the breakfast sandwiches, but rather we are continuing to evolve our food offerings," Starbucks said in an e-mailed response to questions. "We have found small ingredient changes that address the aroma issues of our current breakfast sandwiches, and have implemented these already."

Schultz resumed the position of CEO in January in order to revitalize the chain's cafes after US customer visits declined and sales at existing locations slowed. In the past few months he has introduced a loyalty-card program and disclosed plans to close 600 stores.

Starbucks fell 12 cents to $14.42 and is down 22 percent since Schultz became CEO.