Starbucks announced Thursday, September 24, that it's closing about 250 North American coffeehouses, roughly 1% of its 18,000-plus stores in the region. It's the second wave of closures under CEO Brian Niccol, who joined in 2024 and closed 627 stores across North America and Europe last year. The company says it reviewed its portfolio and picked locations that can't deliver the experience it wants or don't have a path to acceptable financial performance. It's also cutting its 2026 store-opening target from 600-650 down to about 440. And it's booking roughly $300 million in restructuring charges. Starbucks is offering affected workers a transfer to another store, plus severance. Twenty of the 250 closing stores are unionized.

1. The Company (COO Mike Grams)

Starbucks calls this disciplined portfolio management and denies it's a reaction to unions.

This is routine portfolio review, the company says. COO Mike Grams says Starbucks looked at its whole North American footprint and closed locations that don't deliver the experience it wants or don't have a path to acceptable returns.

A company representative gave a direct answer to the unionizing question. The decisions were "based on an objective evaluation of customer experience and financial performance," not a response to organizing.

The financials aren't hidden. The closures come with $300 million in restructuring charges booked upfront. Starbucks is also cutting its 2026 store-opening target from as many as 650 down to about 440.

Workers get more than a pink slip. Starbucks is offering everyone affected a transfer to another store, plus severance.

2. Starbucks Workers United and the United Steelworkers (Michelle Eisen, Scott Lunny)

Workers United and the Steelworkers say the numbers don't back up "objective," and workers deserve real notice.

Union stores are closing at about double their share. Twenty of the 250 stores shutting down are unionized — 8% of the closures — even though unionized stores make up only about 4% of Starbucks' North American footprint.

The company can afford better, a Steelworkers leader says. Scott Lunny, the United Steelworkers' director for Western Canada, put it plainly: "There is no question that Starbucks is still making money. These workers helped build that success and they should not be treated as disposable because the company believes it can squeeze out better returns somewhere else. This is simply profits and shareholders over people." He's also calling for real notice and a transition plan instead of sudden closures.

The store that unionized first in its state is now a flashpoint. The Willamette Street location in Eugene, Oregon, is among the stores closing today. It was the first Starbucks in the state to organize, back in 2022, and it was the site of a strike last November.

Baristas call the process chaotic. Michelle Eisen, a Workers United representative and former Starbucks barista, says the company is "flailing a little bit" and "trying to figure out who they are."

3. Wall Street (Melius Research's Jacob Aiken-Phillips)

Analysts read this as smart pruning. They don't see it as a warning sign.

The stock barely moved. Starbucks shares dipped just 0.52% on the day of the announcement — not the reaction of a market bracing for trouble.

One analyst calls this a smart trim. Jacob Aiken-Phillips, an analyst at Melius Research, told CNBC the move is "more positive than anything" since Starbucks picked its least profitable stores to close.

The same plan is funding renovations elsewhere. Starbucks is aiming to have 1,500 North American cafes retrofitted by the end of its fiscal year, part of a push to cut $2 billion in costs by 2028.

Where This Lands

Starbucks calls this disciplined pruning of underperformers and denies it's payback for organizing. Workers United and the Steelworkers point to the math: unionized stores are about twice as likely to be on the closure list as the union's overall footprint. They also say a profitable company owes people more than a sudden closure notice. Wall Street's read is the simplest of the three: the least profitable stores are going. The market barely blinked. Affected baristas are now deciding whether to transfer, take severance, or keep fighting the closures store by store.

Sources