Starbucks Targets 250 Stores for Closure as It Overhauls Its Coffeehouses

Starbucks is reshaping where Americans get their morning coffee — and what they find when they walk inside.

The coffee giant announced plans last month to close approximately 250 North American locations while expanding a redesign effort that has already reached more than 1,000 cafes across the United States and Canada.

The changes are part of its “Back to Starbucks” strategy, which aims to make the chain’s coffeehouses more welcoming while addressing locations that aren’t meeting expectations.

In its September 24 announcement, Starbucks said the targeted stores either could not consistently deliver the experience it wanted or lacked a path to acceptable financial performance. The company said the closures would occur later that week.

That announcement covered North America, rather than 250 U.S. stores alone, and did not include a location-by-location list.

Starbucks said it would offer affected employees transfers wherever possible and severance support for those it could not place elsewhere. Customers would be directed to nearby coffeehouses.

For regulars, losing a familiar location can mean changing a daily routine. Elsewhere, the company’s overhaul could give customers more reasons to sit down and stay.

Starbucks said in a September 23 update on its redesign program that it had renovated more than 1,000 U.S. and Canadian coffeehouses since late 2025. At the time, it was targeting at least 1,500 renovations by the end of fiscal 2026, with a faster rollout planned for fiscal 2027.

The updates include softer seating, greenery, artwork and details reflecting individual neighborhoods. In Beverly Hills, for example, Starbucks described a refreshed location with rugs, plush seating and velvet drapery.

The company also says it has brought back condiment bars, reintroduced ceramic cups and glassware for customers staying inside, and expanded access to power outlets.

Those changes address a practical question for customers: Is Starbucks somewhere to spend time, or simply somewhere to collect an order?

In an interview excerpt Starbucks published October 19, Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams described the company’s push to improve service and restore the feel of a neighborhood coffeehouse.

“Technology should unlock the experience, not be the experience,” Grams said.

He pointed to staffing, training and giving store leaders more authority over decisions such as food ordering. The idea is that employees who know their customers can better anticipate what those customers want.

Grams also acknowledged that the work remains unfinished.

For customers, the results will depend on their neighborhood: a different stop for coffee where a location closes, or a more comfortable place to linger where Starbucks invests in a renovation.