Starbucks Closing 250 North American Stores

Starbucks is about to serve up another round of store closures. The coffee chain will shutter roughly 250 underperforming locations in North America this week, reports the Wall Street Journal, part of Chief Executive Brian Niccol's ongoing push to cut costs and boost margins. The move follows a previous wave of closures under Niccol, who took the helm in September 2024, and will bring about $300 million in restructuring charges. Starbucks has around 18,000 North American locations, notes Business Insider, and the closed stores will account for about 1% of that figure. The chain also plans to upgrade roughly 1,500 locations.

"Some coffeehouses continue to underperform despite the hard work and commitment of all of you," Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams said in a memo to employees released Thursday. Starbucks plans to move baristas from affected cafes where possible and offer severance to those leaving. The company has been quietly pruning its US footprint through an internal review dubbed "Project Bloom," closing hundreds of stores and trimming corporate staff, while signaling that most near-term growth will come from overseas. It's also experimenting with smaller-format US locations and opening a new tech office in Chennai, India.