Starbucks to close another 250 North American coffee shops
The chain plans to close around 1 per cent of its US and Canadian sites as part of its turnaround strategy.
Starbucks is to close around 250 coffee shops in North America. The measure is part of the reorganisation under chief executive Brian Niccol, who wants to make the chain more profitable and attractive to customers again.
Starbucks announced the closures in a new filing with the US securities regulator. They represent around 1 per cent of its sites in the United States and Canada. The company is primarily targeting locations that are underperforming or where management sees no clear path to financial recovery.
The closures form part of the ‘Back to Starbucks’ strategy. Niccol wants to refocus on coffee shops as places to meet, with more pleasant interiors, better service and a simpler organisational structure. The company has already closed hundreds of sites and cut support roles.
Quarterly results for the first three quarters of fiscal 2026 show that Starbucks had already closed 247 stores by the end of June under its earlier reorganisation plans. Those figures relate to an earlier phase of the restructuring and are therefore not the same as the new announcement of around 250 additional closures.
Starbucks reported revenue of $9.3 billion for the third quarter, down 1 per cent from a year earlier. The figure was partly affected by Starbucks converting its company-owned Chinese stores to a licensed model. The company said comparable sales in North America did increase.
The new round could have consequences for employees and landlords, but Starbucks did not disclose in its public filing which stores would close or how many jobs would be lost. It is also not yet clear how many employees could transfer to other branches.
The strategy highlights the tension between scale and returns. A large network makes a brand visible and accessible, but weak locations weigh on costs and staffing. Starbucks is therefore trying to close stores while investing in those that remain: fewer stores, but more attention to those locations.
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This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The announced closures, the financial context and the earlier closures have been checked against company and stock-market sources. Unknown consequences for individual employees and locations have not been presented as facts.
- confirmed Starbucks is closing around 250 North American coffee shops, approximately 1 per cent of its network. — Reuters reported the closure of around 1 per cent of North American coffee shops. source
- confirmed The closures form part of the Back to Starbucks strategy. — Starbucks describes the strategy and its focus on coffee shops in its own publication. source
- confirmed By the end of June 2026, Starbucks had closed 247 stores under earlier reorganisation plans. — This is stated in the Form 10-Q for fiscal 2026’s third quarter. source
- confirmed Third-quarter revenue was $9.3 billion, down 1 per cent year on year. — The SEC filing gives both figures and refers to the conversion of the Chinese operations. source
Editor's note
The new round of closures and the figure of around 250 sites are based on Reuters. The quarterly figures and earlier closures come from the SEC filing; Starbucks has not yet published a list of locations or definitive job losses.Sources
- Starbucks to close about 1% of coffeehouses in North America — KELO-AM / Reuters
- Starbucks Corporation Form 10-Q, third quarter 2026 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Two years of Back to Starbucks — Starbucks