Sign of Economic Apocalypse #6 - Starbucks closing 600 shops

The local Barnes & Noble has a Starbucks inside the store, then another Starbucks outside in the parking lot adjacent to it.

And somewhere in Houston's medical district, there's a Starbucks diagonally across the intersection from another Starbucks.

 

Two Starbucks in my town are scheduled to be on the chopping block.
I called some to see what was going on.
Me: Hi, this is Jay with the Bumblefuck News and I was wanting to know if your store is going to be closed.
Barista: Funny you should ask. I just got the notice from the company that we were on the list. I don't know what to say. I don't think I should have even told you that.
Me: Yeah, you're probably right but thanks.
Barista: This really sucks.
Me: It does. Totally.

And in Starbucks news: This only applies to company owned stores. The licensed locations, the ones you see in Barnes and Noble and the like do not fall under this. I'm not really surprised. I heard a Starbucks honcho speak last week and she said their sales were in the crapper. Mornings were still solid, but the stores were ghost towns in the afternoon and on. Nobody goes in them then.

 

While vacationing in Chicago I walked by 13 Starbucks from my hotel to the Sears Tower. And its not like I was walking 10 miles or anything it was more like 2.

 

One town over from me, Dunkin' Donuts outnumber Starbucks by a wide margin.

 

Must have a big police force.

 

As a resident of LA I can only hope my boss' suggestion is followed:

"600 stores? If I'm Dunkin Donuts, I'm taking over the West Coast leases tomorrow!"

Great idea.

Where can I find the list of closing stores?

 

It isn't just the Starbucks -- it is the fact that there are seemingly one Starbucks on every block in most major cities, particularly in the Northeast and Northwest, along with at least three similar imitation stores on the same block.

 

If only company-owned stores are getting the ax, then I guess the one in the church in Atlanta is safe ...

It's easy to throw brickbats at the company for overexpanding, but this is absolutely a sign of an economic downturn, during which discretionary spending by consumers -- on things like overpriced coffee -- are among the first things to go. And this 600 stores probably represents something like 6,000 jobs. Granted, most of them are part-time, but those employees wouldn't be working if they didn't need the money. That's one company that's about to eliminate more jobs in one fell swoop than the entire newspaper industry has eliminated in the past, what, two years?

 

Meanwhile, try to find a Seattle's Best. Great coffee, but where the hell are they besides the Northwest and most Borders stores?

 

I know Atlanta has a couple, but they're not in the best parts of town.

 

I'm certainly not celebrating the loss of jobs.

I was just saying that it was inevitible that some of these stores would start to dry up given how many stores are out there that serve overpriced coffee, breakfast foods/muffins and have wi-fi and a place for people to sit and read books.

 

Well, I'm sure somebody's happy about that.