On Thursday, Starbucks said it plans to close roughly 250 underperforming cafés across North America, which is about 1% of its footprint. The chain operates upward of 18,000 locations across the region, and it has not identified which stores will go dark. It is the second round of North America closures during CEO Brian Niccol's two-year run.
Niccol has been overhauling the U.S. business with a push to sharpen the customer experience, including face to face service in cafés. Explaining the closures in a letter to employees, Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams wrote, "We have carefully reviewed our North America coffeehouse portfolio and identified locations where we do not believe we can consistently deliver the experience we want for customers and partners or where we don't see a path to acceptable financial performance." Starbucks added in a regulatory filing, "The Company continues to see significant longer-term growth opportunity ahead in North America and is actively developing a strong pipeline of new coffeehouses."
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The company now expects 440 net new stores in fiscal 2026, down from a prior range of 600 to 650, and says those additions will be outside North America. Most closures will happen before fiscal 2026 wraps up, and Starbucks closes its fiscal year later this month. The restructuring tally is about $300 million: around $200 million tied to early lease terminations and separation benefits, plus roughly $100 million in noncash charges from disposing of and impairing company owned restaurant assets. Translation for your wallet: Starbucks is trimming weaker spots at home, tilting new growth abroad, and taking the accounting hit up front to reset the base.
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