Overview
- Roughly 400 U.S. locations have closed this year, heavily concentrated in major metros including 42 in New York, more than 20 in Los Angeles, 15 in Chicago, seven in San Francisco, six in Minneapolis and five in Baltimore.
- After reviewing more than 18,000 North American stores, the company said it shut units that were underperforming or failed to meet brand standards.
- Executives are repositioning the footprint toward lower-cost suburban drive-throughs as remote work, higher expenses and intensifying urban competition weigh on sales.
- Starbucks plans to remodel about 1,000 company-owned U.S. stores in 2026 to restore linger-friendly spaces with seating, couches, tables and power outlets.
- Restructuring includes about 900 corporate layoffs, and New York real estate brokers say Luckin Coffee is scouting recently vacated sites with reports of up to five additional NYC closures early next year that Starbucks has not confirmed.