Starbucks to Close 250 North American Stores This Week
Starbucks is preparing to close about 250 coffeehouses across North America this week, adding another major round of store reductions to CEO Brian Niccol’s ongoing turnaround effort.
The closures represent roughly 1% of Starbucks’ more than 18,000 North American stores. The company said the affected locations either are not delivering acceptable financial results or cannot provide the experience Starbucks wants for customers and employees.
Starbucks has not yet released a complete list of the stores being closed or said how many of the 250 locations are in the United States.
Why Starbucks is closing 250 stores
Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams said Starbucks reviewed its North American coffeehouse portfolio as part of its “Back to Starbucks” strategy.
The company is trying to make its cafés warmer and more inviting while improving service and store performance. Starbucks said the review gave it a clearer picture of which locations were benefiting from its changes and which continued to underperform.
The latest closures come about a year after Starbucks shut down 627 stores across North America and Europe in another major restructuring move under Niccol, who became CEO in 2024.
At the same time, Starbucks says it is continuing to invest in the stores that remain open.
The company said more than 1,000 coffeehouses in the U.S. and Canada have been redesigned since late 2025, featuring changes such as softer seating, artwork, greenery and local design elements. Starbucks is targeting 1,500 coffeehouse “uplifts” by the end of its fiscal year on September 30.
Starbucks still plans to grow its North American footprint
The store closures do not mean Starbucks is abandoning expansion in North America.
The company had 18,371 North American stores at the end of June, according to its fiscal third-quarter results. Starbucks reported an 8.1% increase in North American comparable-store sales for the quarter, while North American revenue increased 7% year over year.
Reuters reported that Starbucks expects to finish most of the newly announced closures by the end of fiscal 2026. The company also expects about 440 net new stores globally during fiscal 2026, below its previous target of 600 to 650.
That puts the latest closures in the context of a broader strategy: Starbucks is reducing or eliminating locations it considers unsuitable while continuing to invest in other coffeehouses and its future store pipeline.
Employees will be offered transfers or severance
Workers at stores affected by the closures will have the opportunity to transfer to other Starbucks locations where possible.
For employees who cannot be placed elsewhere, Starbucks said it will provide severance support.
The closures are also likely to become another point of discussion between Starbucks and Starbucks Workers United, which represents employees at hundreds of company-owned U.S. locations that have voted to unionize.
The union said 20 unionized stores are included among the 250 planned closures. It said it would formally request information from Starbucks and engage in bargaining at each affected unionized store.
The closures come with a $300 million restructuring bill
Starbucks expects the latest round of closures to cost approximately $300 million in restructuring charges.
About $200 million will be cash charges, including expenses related to exiting leases and employee separation benefits. Another $100 million will be non-cash charges connected to the disposal and impairment of coffeehouse assets.
The move follows other cost-cutting efforts inside the company.
Starbucks eliminated about 900 nonretail positions during last year’s restructuring. In May, the company announced another reduction of approximately 300 corporate employees and closed some underused U.S. office locations.
What happens next
The immediate focus will be on completing the approximately 250 closures and helping affected employees transition to other locations where possible.
Meanwhile, Starbucks is continuing its store redesign program, with the company aiming to reach 1,500 redesigned North American coffeehouses by the end of fiscal 2026.
The company has not yet publicly identified every store included in the latest closure round.
Starbucks shares were down less than 1% in Thursday afternoon trading, according to the Associated Press.
The latest restructuring therefore leaves Starbucks pursuing two tracks at once: closing stores that management considers underperforming while investing in redesigned coffeehouses and maintaining plans for continued North American growth.
