Starbucks closing 600 underperforming stores in the United States

[Stewii Griffin]

AP
Starbucks closing 600 stores in the US
Tuesday July 1, 4:26 pm ET
Starbucks closing 600 underperforming stores in the United States
SEATTLE (AP) -- Starbucks Corp. has announced it's closing 600 underperforming stores in the United States.The Seattle-based premium coffee company also announced Tuesday it expects to open fewer than 200 new company-operated stores in the United States in fiscal 2009.
The company says it will try to place workers from closed stores in remaining Starbucks.

Starbucks closing 600 stores in the US: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

[ZoomZoom71]

I wonder which major city will lose all it's Starbucks. Aren't there some places w/ a Starbucks on every other street corner?

[lovekeiiy]

I'm sure coffee drinkers will go through withdrawals, and a time of mourning. I'm not one of them though, LOL.

I like to know what "under performing" means though. Are they stores that actually loose money or just not making profits the way the company wants or expects.

[Wallace Suka]

Originally Posted by lovekeiiy

I like to know what "under performing" means though. Are they stores that actually loose money or just not making profits the way the company wants or expects.

Something like that. It is a certain quota based on the income of the neighborhood and how much did they made in the last three years. If the trend is heading south and if their cost extend more than their budget allow... Then that store will close down.

[Quo]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoom71

Aren't there some places w/ a Starbucks on every other street corner?

Exactly... I guess now you might have to drive a full mile to find a Starbucks. So with gas prices, that $4 cup of coffee just went up to $5.

[dmiller68]

While this is a big deal, they are also laying off from headquarters as well. 600 stores are not that many when you have more then 15,000. I think this is mostly going to affect where they build a standalone store near one in a strip mall. The strip mall one would close in most cases. It is weird to see this change from so many years of growth.

[namehater]

oh man, MadB gets a PS3 now this!? whats next!? i dont know how much more of this i can handle!!

maybe im not looking deep enough into this cutback, maybe its part of a big picture of an economic fallout, i dunno. who really gives a crap if they have to close some of their stores? its just f'n coffee!

[supafreak]

I think they changed CEO's back in January this and one of things mentioned then was they had expanded too quickly. A regular cup of coffee from Starbucks is about $2 not $4-5. If you want to get something fancy then it cost more, but it also cost more for those types of drinks at other places as well.

I think some of this cutback is due probably due more to over agressive expansion of stores. Part of the draw of Starbucks for a while was that it wasn't such an available commodity.

Oh and yes I do like Starbucks I just make it at home with my fancy coffee/espresso machine.

[Wondermonkey]

It's really hard to find one in Manhattan, sometimes you need to cross the street, which effing blows...



And yes, this map is accurate.

[Lord Sam]

Originally Posted by Wondermonkey

It's really hard to find one in Manhattan, sometimes you need to cross the street, which effing blows...



And yes, this map is accurate.

[lovekeiiy]

I'm assuming the blank areas are residential areas.

[Lord Geoff]

I will have to ask Jordan when he gets back in town about what "underperforming" means. He told me a few days ago that his location averages $18k per week and is nowhere near the busiest locally. That drives me crazy that they are able to double our monthly numbers in one week. We sell actual items that can be enjoyed over and over and even has trade in value when you are done with it. Effing crazy.