I’d not be surprised if most profits end up going to captured rents. Always raise rents until just about when Starbucks would leave.
If it goes to rent, it's not profit by definition. That's just a cost, same as any other. Starbucks made 32B in 2022 with a profit of almost 22B.
I wouldn't doubt that Starbucks is paying rent to Starbucks, and that is a tax evasion scam
Nope, almost all Starbucks locations (like most restaurants and retail establishments) are leased from commercial real estate holding companies and investors.
That 22B is gross profit and highly misleading in this context, since it excludes fixed costs like rents and salaries and also taxes.