Starbucks Closing 150 Locations: Are Maryland Stores At Risk?

BALTIMORE, MD — Starbucks, the ubiquitous coffee chain, announced late Tuesday it plans to close an estimated 150 locations by the end of 2019. While the company has not yet said which locations will close, a notice to investors said the closures will affect "underperforming company-operated stores in its most densely penetrated markets" in urban areas.

Baltimore and Washington, D.C., could be among those "densely penetrated markets." As of October 2017, Maryland was home to 257 Starbucks locations — or one for every 23,615 people, according to a study. Washington, D.C., has 91 Starbucks sites, or one shop for every 7,659 people; and Virginia has 432 Starbucks locations, one for every 19,660 residents.

Starbucks on Tuesday said the anticipated 150 store closings is up from a historical average of 50 closings per year. The company expects same-store sales to grow just 1 percent in the next quarter.

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Related: List Of Retailers Closing Stores In 2018 With Maryland Ties

"Our recent performance does not reflect the potential of our exceptional brand and is not acceptable," Kevin Johnson, Starbucks president and CEO, said in a statement. "We must move faster to address the more rapidly changing preferences and needs of our customers. Over the past year we have taken several actions to streamline the company, positioning us to increase our innovation agility as an organization and enhance focus on our core value drivers which serve as the foundation to re-accelerate growth and create long-term shareholder value."

Starbucks said it is "optimizing its U.S. store portfolio at a more rapid pace" in fiscal year 2019, " including shifting new company-operated store growth to under-penetrated markets, slowing licensed store growth" and closing the 150 underperforming stores.

Starbucks has more than 9,000 company-owned stores and more than 14,000 total stores (both company-owned and licensed) in the U.S. Patch has learned that employees will not lose their jobs as a result of the round of closures.

The chain closed 8,000 locations, including dozens in Maryland, the afternoon of May 29 for racial bias training after the arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia location.

Photo by David Allen/Patch