Starbucks is closing the book on another chunk of its store footprint. The company confirmed this week it will shutter approximately 250 coffeehouses across the United States and Canada, with closure notices going up in windows as early as this weekend, according to a regulatory filing disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The cuts amount to roughly 1% of Starbucks' more than 18,000 company-operated and licensed North American locations, but the financial fallout is bigger than the store count suggests. The company said it expects to book about $300 million in restructuring charges tied to the closures — roughly $200 million in cash costs for lease exits and employee separation, and another $100 million in non-cash asset write-downs. The retreat also forced Starbucks to slash its fiscal 2026 growth outlook, now projecting just 440 net new global coffeehouse openings, down sharply from prior guidance of 600 to 650.

A Second Purge in Two Years

This is not Starbucks' first trim under chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, who took the reins in 2024 promising to fix a chain that had lost its way. Almost exactly a year ago, Starbucks closed 627 stores across North America and Europe and cut 900 corporate jobs in one of the largest single retrenchments in its history. In May 2026, another 300 corporate employees were let go. Add this week's 250 closures, and Niccol's "Back to Starbucks" turnaround has now claimed close to 1,200 stores and well over 1,000 corporate jobs in roughly 18 months, even as the company touts renovated cafes and a return to counter service at hundreds of locations, as PBS News reported.

Chief operating officer Mike Grams told employees the targeted cafes are ones that "do not deliver the coffeehouse experience and financial performance expected of the brand," language echoed in the company's SEC disclosure. CNN Business reported the company has not published a store-by-store list, leaving baristas and regulars at thousands of locations to wait for signage — or a manager's phone call — to find out if their store made the cut.

"WHERE WE DO NOT BELIEVE WE CAN CONSISTENTLY DELIVER THE EXPERIENCE WE WANT FOR CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS, OR WHERE WE DON'T SEE A PATH TO ACCEPTABLE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE." — Starbucks COO Mike Grams

Starbucks says affected baristas will be offered transfers to nearby stores first, with severance available if no transfer is possible. It remains unclear how many of the 250 stores are unionized locations, a detail likely to draw scrutiny from Starbucks Workers United, which has sparred with the company over prior rounds of closures it argued disproportionately hit organized cafes.

Wall Street's initial reaction was muted — shares ticked up less than 1% in premarket trading the morning the news broke, suggesting investors had already priced in a leaner store count as part of Niccol's cost-cutting playbook. The bigger test comes as Starbucks races toward its fiscal year-end on September 30, when the company is expected to detail how many of its roughly 1,500 targeted store retrofits it actually completed, and whether the pruned footprint and slower expansion translate into the same-store sales recovery Niccol has promised investors for two straight years.