Several of the closed stores are near other Starbucks. Even with these closures, some pockets of San Diego have multiple Starbucks within several blocks or at the same shopping center. A 1.5-mile stretch of Point Loma, around Midway Drive and Sports Arena Boulevard, has six Starbucks.<\/p>\n
Shuttering some stores is one piece in a bigger strategy that includes remodeling 1,500 cafes and overhauling the Starbucks coffeehouse experience. The goal is to return in some ways to the company\u2019s roots, where a coffeeshop visit was more about hanging out and finding a sense of connection over a cup of coffee or espresso rather than grabbing a drink to go \u2014 or rushing in to use the bathroom, with or without a purchase.<\/p>\n
The approximately 250 stores that are closing didn\u2019t fit in with that vision, a company executive said last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have carefully reviewed our North America coffeehouse portfolio and identified locations where we do not believe we can consistently deliver the experience we want for customers and partners or where we don\u2019t see a path to acceptable financial performance,\u201d Mike Grams, the company\u2019s chief operating officer, said in a memo to workers<\/a> about the closures.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re making this decision for a simple reason: we want every Starbucks coffeehouse to be a place customers love and partners are proud to work,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Grams also touted recently improved financial performance, faster service and \u201cwarmer, more welcoming coffeehouses.\u201d A slowdown in sales led Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol to launch a turnaround plan two years ago<\/a>, which included revamping cafes and rethinking its approach to customer service.<\/p>\n At one freshly closed store, in New York, a sign in the door let passers by know: \u201cWe\u2019ve made the very difficult decision to close this Starbucks location by the end of this week. We know this may be hard to hear \u2014 because this isn\u2019t just any store. It\u2019s your coffeehouse, a place woven into your daily rhythm, where memories were made and meaningful connections with our partners grew,\u201d a post on that location\u2019s Instagram account said.<\/p>\n![\"Starbucks](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/OCR-L-SBUX-CLOSURES-SB-FBUCK-0928-2.jpeg\")
Starbucks closed a store in San Bernardino over the weekend. Stores posted similar letters, across the U.S. (Fielding Buck, San Bernardino Sun\/SCNG)<\/p>\n