Starbucks to close 300 stores
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Starbucks said Wednesday, Jan. 28, it plans to close 300 stores - including 200 in the United States - in fiscal 2009 as it tries to slash costs.
According to a statement by Howard Schultz, chairman, president and chief executive, declining sales as well as a worsening economy drove the company's decision to cut costs.
The coffee chain also will cut back on store openings this year, the company said. The proposed closings and the cut in new store openings would eliminate 6,000 store-level jobs, the company said. Plans call for the company also to layoff 700 non-store employees, half of them at the Starbucks Support Center in Seattle.
Word of the cost-cutting program came as Starbucks reported a 6 percent drop in first-quarter revenue and a 9 percent decline in comparable store sales.
The company did not say which stores it plans to close. Representatives at the corporate office could not be immediately reached for comment.
Company executives hope to place some of the workers in other stores. Those who lose their jobs will be offered severance packages based on their years of service and their job level, the company said.
The latest round of cuts comes on top of 600 U.S. stores and 61 Australian stores the company targeted for closure last year.
