Starbucks closing hundreds of stores

Starbucks said on Thursday it would close underperforming stores in North America, including its iconic Seattle roastery, as CEO Brian Niccol presses ahead with his restructuring effort, which is expected to cost $1 billion in a bid to revive the company's flagging sales.

- JUVERIA TABASSUM WAYLON CUNNINGHAM

Starbucks has rolled out a new order-sequencing system and renovated many of its locations, like this store in Union Square in New York.

The coffee chain's overall US and Canada store count is expected to drop by 1%, or several hundred stores, by the end of the 2025 fiscal year. Mr Niccol is trying to restore the chain's “coffeehouse” feel to bring customers back to its outlets after six consecutive quarters of declining US sales.

Among the closed stores was Starbucks’ flagship unionised location in Seattle, a large cafe with an in-house roastery, the company confirmed.

Talks between Starbucks and the Workers United union, which represents over 12,000 baristas, began last April, but have hit a wall since. In December, some members of the union walked off their jobs in multiple US cities in a strike that spanned several days during the peak holiday season.

Workers at the Seattle store, which is located near its headquarters, voted to unionise in 2022, and the union picketed the store on Monday over contract negotiation disputes.

A unionised store in Chicago, on Ridge Avenue, was also closed, the union confirmed. Baristas at the store were picketing Thursday morning, in a plan made before the store's closure was known, the union said.