Starbucks plans to close around 250 underperforming stores across North America and cut corporate jobs as CEO Brian Niccol pushes ahead with a wider restructuring of the coffee chain.
The company expects to incur around $300 million in charges related to the latest store closures, according to The Wall Street Journal. The closures are part of Niccol’s efforts to simplify operations, cut costs and improve returns from Starbucks’ store network.
The latest round follows a much larger wave of closures last year, when Starbucks shut more than 600 stores across North America and Europe.
Corporate operations have also been shrinking. Starbucks announced around 300 corporate job cuts earlier this year and closed regional support offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Burbank. In August, more than 200 employees were affected as the company shifted selected corporate work to Nashville. Some had been offered the option of relocating but chose not to move.
Starbucks has said it will try to transfer baristas affected by the latest store closures to other locations where possible. Those who cannot be accommodated will receive severance support.
The restructuring is part of a broader cost programme under Niccol, who has set a target of reducing costs by $2 billion by the end of fiscal 2028.
Yet Starbucks is not shrinking everywhere.
In India, the company is preparing to establish its first Global Capability Centre in Chennai after signing an MoU with Guidance Tamil Nadu. The centre is expected to create around 800 technology jobs and support Starbucks’ global technology and business operations.
The Chennai GCC will operate independently of Tata Starbucks, its retail joint venture with Tata Consumer Products. Starbucks has not disclosed how much it plans to invest in the centre.
The North American reductions and Chennai expansion are separate initiatives, and Starbucks has not said that jobs being eliminated in North America are being shifted to India. They do, however, show how the company’s workforce footprint is changing: stores and selected corporate operations are being rationalised even as Starbucks invests in technology talent and new capability centres.
