Starbucks to shutter seven stores in San Francisco; locations include …
Add Starbucks to the list of retailers closing some stores in San Francisco.
The coffee giant will close seven of its stores in downtown San Francisco during the next few weeks. (Locations listed at end of article.) Starbucks currently operates 59 locations throughout the city. There will be 52 effective October 22. The company noted that all employees at the closing stores will be offered the opportunity to transfer – no one will lose their jobs.
In recent months, several prominent retailers have shuttered locations in downtown San Francisco, including Nordstrom, which closed its store at Westfield San Francisco Centre in August. Last week, Target said it would shutter nine stores in key cities across the U.S., including one in San Francisco, amid theft and safety concerns. Starbucks, however, did not cite crime in explaining its decision to close the stores.
“Each year as a standard course of business, we evaluate the store portfolio to determine where we can best meet our community and customers’ needs,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in an email to Chain Store Age. “This includes opening new locations, identifying stores in need of investment or renovation, exploring locations where an alternative format is needed and, in some instances, re-evaluating our footprint.”
Starbucks continues to invest in San Francisco. In the past six months, the company has opened or re-opened three new stores downtown, with the most recent being a new pickup-only store at 333 Market, next to the BART station, Starbucks regional VP for Northern California said in a letter to district managers in San Francisco that the company shared with Chain Store Age. Two other recent openings were at Powell & O’Farrell, and 90 Charter Oak.
In addition, Starbucks completed or started renovations — investing more than $2.5 million — at four other locations: Powell & Sutter; 24th & Noe; Sutter at Stockton (Union Square) and 19th and Irving.
The following Starbucks stores are set to be closed on Oct. 22:
- 201 Mission and Main;
- 442 Geary St.;
- 425 Battery St.;
- 398 Market St.;
- 780 Market St.;
- 555 California St;
- 555 California St.; and
- •1401 Van Ness Ave.