Starbucks plans to shutter about 250 locations, will take $300M in charges

By Aubrey Wood · Sep 25, 2026 6:20 AM ET

Starbucks announced plans to close about 250 of its North American coffee shops, a plan that will cost about $300M in restructuring charges.

In a Thursday letter to partners, Starbucks (SBUX) COO Mike Grams outlined plans to close approximately 250 North American locations, or about 1% of its 18,000 stores in the region. The closures will take place later this week (1).
Grams said the company's "... North American business has returned to strong growth" and that its turnaround strategy is working. As part of this plan, all locations' performance has been closely monitored, and the company has decided to close stores that are underperforming financially or are unable to deliver the desired customer experience (1).
Where possible, employees will be offered transfer opportunities. Those who cannot be relocated will receive severance (1).
In its SEC report about the closures, Starbucks indicated that the plan will cost about $300M in restructuring charges — about $200M in cash charges for lease exits and employee separation benefits, plus $100M in non-cash charges for asset disposal and impairment (2).
The company now expects to open 440 net new coffeehouses in fiscal 2026, down from 600–650. The new figure accounts for the 250 closures and is "... partially offset by higher net new coffeehouse openings across the Company's international markets" (2).
Starbucks expects that most of the closures will be completed by the end of its fiscal 2026, which CNBC notes ends later this month (2, 3).