Starbucks to Close 250 More North American Stores

The announcement follows earlier rounds of cuts. Last September, Starbucks closed 627 stores across North America and Europe and laid off 900 employees who did not work in its shops, and in May it eliminated a further 300 corporate jobs and closed several underused offices. At the same time, the chain has been redesigning its coffeehouses to make them cozier, and it expects 1,500 stores to be retrofitted by September 30, the end of its fiscal year. According to Grams, this work has given the company a clearer view of how every location is performing: while most are benefiting, some continue to underperform despite staff's hard work. The closures also come amid labor tensions, as more than 700 US stores have voted to unionize since late 2021, yet the company does not support the effort and no labor agreement has been reached.

Starbucks says it will transfer affected workers to other stores where possible and offer severance pay to those it cannot place, and it insists it remains committed to growing its number of stores in North America. Its shares rose by less than 1% in premarket trading that day. For some customers, however, the losses feel personal. In Burbank, in the Los Angeles area, a much-loved Starbucks on Riverside Drive, nicknamed "Bobbucks" because it stands beside the landmark Bob's Big Boy restaurant, served its final coffee on Saturday after nearly 30 years. One regular customer praised its freestanding building, large windows and natural light, and a local history account thanked staff for "decades of good coffee and fun". According to the New York Post, the company has not said whether this store is part of the latest closures.