Starbucks has closed 10 UK stores this month as it pushes ahead with its international turnaround plan.
Last month, the coffee giant unveiled plans to close hundreds of coffee shops and lay off 900 non-retail employees. While the majority of changes are to be made in the US and Canada, Starbucks confirmed that an unspecified number of closures would take place in the UK.
It is understood that 10 UK shops have closed this month: branches in Ilford, Brunel Retail Park in Whitney, Leyton Mills Retail Park, London Bridge Station, Balham, Glasgow Exchange Place, King’s Lynn in Norfolk, Muswell Hill, Holborn Junction in Aberdeen, and Holland Park, The Sun reported.
The changes form part of CEO Brian Niccol’s ‘Back to Starbucks’ strategy, which aims to boost sales and address issues from long waiting times to frustrated staff.
Starbucks has already conducted a review of its portfolio in North America, with stores identified for closure ”where it has not been possible to create the physical environment customers and partners (employees) want and where there isn’t a path to financial performance”, the business said.
However, Starbucks added that a similar review of its company-operated store portfolio had also been conducted in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), “with the goal of ensuring that our stores are correctly located, generating appropriate levels of foot traffic and operating in the right formats”.
While the EMEA business was “on track” to meet its commitment to open 80 new stores in the UK and 150 across EMEA this financial year, Starbucks added that some stores in the UK, Switzerland and Austria would close.
”These decisions impact our partners (employees), their families and the communities where we operate, and we never take them lightly. We appreciate everything our partners do for our company and our customers, and we’ll do all we can to support those impacted by this change.”
While Starbucks has not specified the total number of stores that are set to close in the UK, it confirmed that it would “make every effort to retain as many partners as possible, including facilitating transfers to other company-operated and licensed stores”.
“Where this isn’t possible, we’ll be focused on partner care including enhanced compensation packages and wellbeing support,” the coffee chain added.
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