Seeing fast food chains close some of their locations is nothing new for consumers in the United States, but seeing one of the five largest chains in the world close up shop is a bit newer. This somewhat rare event is happening as we speak, with coffee giant Starbucks closing approximately 250 of its locations across North America. Starbucks is currently enjoying its most successful fall menu launch in company history (despite the absence of the cafe’s famous apple chips), but that didn’t stop the chain from announcing it would close those stores on September 24, and it has been making those closures over the past week.
Unfortunately, there has been no official statement stating exactly which Starbucks stores have closed. However, internet sleuths have created a database of Starbucks closures reported since September 24. If these reports are to be believed, California saw 65 Starbucks locations closed, New York lost 22 locations, and Texas lost 14 locations. As Starbucks pointed out in its press release, the 250 locations that were closed represent only 1% of the 18,000 Starbucks coffee shops in North America. Nonetheless, that’s still more than double the number of locations Starbucks will close in 2025 and has shocked many fans of the chain.
Why did Starbucks close so many of its branches in North America?
Closing locations is often seen as a sign that a company isn’t doing as well as its executives want it to, but Starbucks says there’s a different reason for these sudden, unannounced closures. Mike Grams, Starbucks’ chief operating officer, explained in a statement on the company’s website that some of those now-closed locations were indeed less profitable than they should be, but he linked the decision to the Back to Starbucks strategy that the chain has been touting since 2024. Grams said the closed stores are “places where we don’t feel we can consistently deliver the experience we want to customers and partners.” So as Starbucks moves forward with plans to overhaul more than 1,500 of its current cafes in the United States and Canada in the coming months, its decision to close 250 locations is being touted as a way to improve the customer experience.
Fans and workers have not welcomed the news of these closures. In fact, many Starbucks fans are furious with this sudden decision. “I just found out that my favorite Starbucks is closing two days ago and today is the last day and I am absolutely heartbroken,” one Reddit user admitted. This is far from the first time that the coffee chain has been criticized, since again this year, Starbucks changed its rewards program to the dismay of consumers. However, with accessibility to the channel now being called into question for populations across the continent, this new frustration is arguably even more serious.
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