Reports indicate that 400 company owned Starbucks coffee shops will cease operations over the next 18 months.
Details about which stores will be affected have not been released yet.
While this may come as a shock, they are also planning to open an additional 300 stores this fiscal year. Some of the closures are simply to relocate within the same city, but others are a permanent closure.
In a news release, Starbucks says these changes are accelerated due to a retail environment that shifted due to coronavirus and “to meet the already evolving customer needs of convenience, connection and personalization offered through a digital experience.”