Starbucks is closing approximately 250 coffeehouses across North America, marking the second major round of store closures under CEO Brian Niccol as the coffee giant continues reshaping its sprawling retail portfolio.
The closures, representing about 2.2% of Starbucks’ 11,149 company-operated North American locations, come alongside a large-scale reinvestment in the locations the company plans to keep.
A day before announcing the closures, Starbucks said it had completed redesigns, or “uplifts,” at more than 1,000 U.S. and Canadian locations since late 2025, with a goal of reaching at least 1,500 by the end of fiscal 2026.
The latest moves are part of the “Back to Starbucks” strategy introduced after Niccol took over as CEO in September 2024.
The company did not release a full list of the closing stores or a geographic breakdown. However, California appears to be taking an outsized share. Sfgate identified 64 California locations likely to close, based on an independently compiled store list and spot checks through the Starbucks app.
A redesigned Starbucks store in Austin, Texas. Starbucks press photo.
The round follows another major contraction last September, when Starbucks announced hundreds of store closures and 900 non-retail job cuts as part of the same turnaround effort. At the time, Starbucks projected a roughly 1% decline in its company-operated North American store count.
The latest closures also come amidst an ongoing unionization campaign. More than 700 U.S. Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since late 2021, while Starbucks and Starbucks Workers United have yet to reach a first collective bargaining agreement.
Starbucks is also facing stiffer competition domestically, with Chinese quick-service coffee chains Luckin Coffee and Cotti Coffee building U.S. footprints alongside fast-growing drive-through-focused chains such as Dutch Bros, 7 Brew, Scooter’s Coffee and Biggby Coffee. Dutch Bros had 1,225 shops in 25 states as of June, up 17.4% from a year earlier, while 7 Brew has grown from 602 locations entering 2026 to more than 800 locations across 38 states.
Starbucks said employees at closing stores will be offered transfers to nearby locations where possible, with severance support available for workers who cannot be placed elsewhere.
Starbucks said last week it is committed to expanding its North American store base over the long term. Meanwhile, the redesign program is moving from pilot projects to a broader rollout in markets including Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, Seattle and Washington, D.C., as well as Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.
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