Starbucks said Thursday it will close about 250 locations in North America later this week.
The Seattle-based chain called the move a “difficult decision” after reviewing stores that it says cannot deliver the experience it wants or a path to acceptable financial results, according to a report from Fox Business.
Coffee giant Starbucks announcing it’s closing hundreds of locations across North America in a sudden shakeup.
Starbucks says it will close approximately 250 coffeehouses that have been struggling to perform financially this week.
“Closing any coffeehouse is a difficult decision, and we know today’s news will be hard for the partners, customers and communities affected,” the company said in a statement.
Read the full details on the impending closures:
https://t.co/jyYXEUZeFz— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) September 24, 2026
The closures amount to about 1 percent of more than 18,000 North American locations.
“Closing any coffeehouse is a difficult decision, and we know today’s news will be hard for the partners, customers and communities affected,” Starbucks COO Mike Grams said in a statement.
Grams also framed the store cuts as ordinary portfolio management.
“Every year we close some coffeehouses and open others,” Grams said.
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The company did not publish a list of addresses and is contacting workers at the affected stores directly.
Starbucks also told regulators it expects about $300 million in restructuring charges tied to the shutdowns. Roughly $200 million covers early lease exits and separation pay. About $100 million covers assets left behind.
Most of the closings are slated before the end of fiscal 2026, which ends this month. The chain still plans to open more shops than it closes this year. It now forecasts about 440 net new stores worldwide, down from an earlier target of 600 to 650.
The wave is the second major round under Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol, who took over in 2024 and branded his plan “Back to Starbucks.”
Niccol’s pitch has centered on fewer weak cafes, shorter waits, and shops that feel like coffeehouses again. The company said this week it is speeding café “uplifts,” with at least 1,500 redesigns by the end of the fiscal year.
Same-store sales recently rose 7.9 percent in the third quarter, beating Wall Street’s 5.7 percent estimate and topping the prior quarter’s 6.2 percent gain.
Starbucks Workers United, which represents hundreds of U.S. stores, said it did not yet know how many union partners would be hit.
The announcement landed days after Starbucks resolved a Florida DEI lawsuit that Attorney General James Uthmeier filed in December 2025. His office accused the coffee giant of violating the Florida Civil Rights Act by using race and sex-based goals, quotas, and preferences in hiring, promotions, pay, executive compensation, mentorship programs, supplier selection, and board makeup.
MASSIVE WIN: Florida just FORCED Starbucks to CAVE on their race- and gender-based DEI hiring goals. The company is paying $1M and agreeing to drop their ILLEGAL quotas and preferences.
Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie: “That agreement, by the way, applies to all Starbucks locations nationwide.”
HUGE!
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) September 19, 2026
Under the settlement, Starbucks will pay $1 million to the Florida Department of Legal Affairs to cover the cost of bringing the case.
More important to the state’s demand, the company agreed to drop race and sex-based targets nationwide, not just in Florida, and to stop joining groups that require it to increase the racial diversity of its board.
Starbucks’ chief legal officer must certify compliance every year for four years.
Uthmeier said the point was simple: people should be hired and paid on merit, qualifications, and character. The store closure news and the DEI deal are separate files, but they hit in the same week of a company trying to reset both its cafés and its workplace rules.
Following the regulatory filing, analysts called the step costly but consistent with a turnaround that is still being judged on traffic, margins, and whether customers come back for more than a mobile order.
With the projected $300 million restructuring hit on the horizon, the focus remains squarely on execution. Market experts point out that while trimming underperforming assets stabilizes the balance sheet, the true benchmark for Niccol’s “Back to Starbucks” initiative will be whether it restores the traditional “third place” cafe experience.
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