Starbucks store closures: List of doomed locations includes another 250 coffeehouses, 1 year after earlier cull

Starbucks Coffee Company announced today that it will close approximately 250 North American stores later this week. This represents about 1% of the Seattle coffee giant’s more than 18,000 North American coffee shops. The company said it reviewed its North American portfolio and identified locations where it is unable to deliver the customer experience it wants, or where there’s no path to acceptable financial performance. Why is Starbucks closing these stores? In a statement on the company’s website, Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams said the decision was made in support of the coffee chain’s Back to Starbucks strategy. Starbucks said it will support employees through the transition, offering transfer opportunities where possible. For any employees who can’t be transferred to other coffee shops, Starbucks will provide severance support. This move is part of a strategic restructuring of the brand’s North American footprint. Why does this sound familiar? Last September, the coffee chain cut 900 corporate roles and reduced its North American store footprint by about 1%, ending the fiscal year with around 18,300 locations. At the time, Starbucks Workers United reported that 59 of th…