Starbucks to close 250 more stores in Canada and the U.S.

Starbucks has announced plans to close an additional 250 North American stores later this week, marking the second significant round of store closures under CEO Brian Niccol. This follows a previous round of closures in September, where the company shuttered 627 locations across North America and Europe, along with laying off 900 non-retail employees.

Starbucks COO Mike Grams stated that the selected stores were either not meeting financial expectations or unable to deliver the desired customer and employee experience. The company has not disclosed which specific locations will be affected, nor the number of closures in the United States. Starbucks has supported over 700 U.S. stores in unionizing efforts since late 2021, but remains opposed to unionization and has yet to reach an agreement with the union.

The company is actively retrofitting its North American coffeehouses to make them more inviting, with a goal of completing 1,500 retrofit projects by the end of its fiscal year. CEO Niccol reiterated the company's commitment to expanding its store count in North America, offering affected employees transfer opportunities or severance support if relocation is not feasible.

In May, Starbucks laid off an additional 300 corporate employees and closed some underutilized U.S. offices.