Starbucks Plan To Close Hundreds of Stores Sparks Concern for Staff - Newsweek

Starbucks announced the closure of 250 of its stores across North America by the end of the week, in a move that has sparked concern for staff left in limbo about their future and let go with relatively short notice.

“I feel for the staff so hard. Times are so bad right now, nobody can afford to get laid off because there’s no jobs that will actually hire,” a Starbucks customer wrote on Reddit, sharing a photo of a letter hung on the door of their local coffeehouse informing Starbucks’ “amazing customers” of the closure.

The same user spoke of talking to a barista who was given “less than 48 hours” notice, who said they “literally have no idea if they’re going to get laid off or not but they find out Monday.”

In another post on Reddit thread r/starbucksbaristas, a user asked about the severance pay offered by Starbucks to employees who were let go in the first round of closures, saying: “It’s horrible they’re doing this around the end of the month where we all got to pay rent. And the holidays that are coming up.”

Some spoke about being let go with one day’s notice, other with three days’ notice, despite the company’s requirement that staff give two weeks notice to leave the job. While some said they have been laid off, others are unaware of their fate.

In another post on the thread, a user who identified themselves as a former manager of one of the locations shut this week spoke about the “bittersweet” experience of turning in the key for the store. “Hopefully I get transferred, if not, until next time,” they wrote.

Newsweek contacted Starbucks, all Reddit users quoted above and Starbucks Workers United for comment by email or direct messaging on Sunday.

In a memo sent to employees on Thursday, Starbucks’ COO Mike Grams wrote that a recent review of the company’s operations found that many stores across North America “can’t consistently deliver adequate financial performance or customer experiences.”

As a result, the company has decided to close 250 coffeehouses, approximately 1 percent of their total of more than 18,000 stores in North America. The closures were the result of a “difficult decision,” Grams wrote, and Starbucks knows they will be “hard for the partners, customers and communities affected.”

Starbucks will support impacted partners through this transition, the company said, including transfer opportunities wherever possible. “For partners we are unable to place in another coffeehouse, we will provide severance support,” Grams wrote.

The latest round of closures, which comes after CEO Brian Niccol announced a similar amount of closures a year ago as part of a $1 billion restructuring effort, does not mean the company is pulling out of North America.

“Every year we close some coffeehouses and open others as part of managing our portfolio,” Grams wrote in his memo. “And as we shared previously, we remain excited about the significant long-term growth opportunity ahead in North America. We are actively developing a strong pipeline of new coffeehouses and remain committed to growth in North America.”

But Starbucks is forecasted to open just 440 new locations globally during this fiscal year, down from a previously announced 600 to 650 openings, according to a Thursday regulatory filing mentioned by CNN.

The closures will come at a cost for the company, which, according to the filing, will pay roughly $300 million in charges relating to the operation, including $200 million for ending leases early and severance benefits for employees.

Starbucks has not released a list of all the shops closing across North America, including the U.S. Coffeehouses that are closing will have signage up this weekend to notify customers, which are invited to visit Starbucks.com or the Starbucks app to find nearby coffeehouses and updated location information.

At least a dozen stores are closing across the Bay Area in California, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. These include:

Additionally, the SFGate listed several more locations in California that are presumed to have closed, as their business hours appeared only as “closed” in the coming days. Starbucks did not confirm the closures. These are:

An open-access list created by one of the Starbucks employees being laid off this week included many more locations across the U.S., including:

Newsweek could not verify the closures of these stores. Starbucks was asked to confirm the closures of the above locations.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Cristina Diciu.