Starbucks to Close 600 Stores, May Cut 12,000 Jobs « Columbus Underground Messageboard

Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion

Starbucks to Close 600 Stores, May Cut 12,000 Jobs

[49 posts] [23 contributors]

Topic Rating:

(Total Ratings: )
Rate this topic:

Started 3 years ago by Walker
Latest reply from Tigertree

Tags:

No tags yet. Add them below.

12 3 Next »

Walker
The KLD / Downtown
Login to Send PM

I wonder how many in Columbus will be closed, and which ones?
Bloomberg.com wrote Starbucks to Close 600 Stores, May Cut 12,000 Jobs (Update3)
By Duane D. Stanford and Joseph Galante
Starbucks Corp. will close 600 U.S. coffee shops and eliminate as many as 12,000 jobs, the most in its history, as Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz slows the chain's expansion after it doubled in size in four years.
Starbucks gained as much as 7.2 percent in late Nasdaq trading after saying the reductions amount to 7 percent of its workforce worldwide. The cuts include full- and part-time employees and will come over the next nine months, the Seattle- based company said today in a regulatory filing.
Seventy percent of the stores to be shut are less than three years old, the company said. Schultz, the 54-year-old former CEO who regained the post in January, is coming to grips with Starbucks' declining earnings and the ``overgrowth'' of the past few years, said Matthew DiFrisco, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York.
READ MORE

Posted 3 years ago #
Matthew
Hilltop
Login to Send PM

Only loss here is jobs.
I keep waiting for the day that we get this type of headline for the evil Walmart.

Posted 3 years ago #
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
Login to Send PM

I don't know if I have ever had much love for Starbucks, especially when one considers the abundance of great local stores here. The job loss will hit some places hard, as Starbucks does offer decent wages and benefits (at least the last I heard).

Posted 3 years ago #
dru
IV
Login to Send PM

Walker wrote I wonder how many in Columbus will be closed, and which ones?
I doubt this will affect the Columbus locations too much. Columbus was actually late to the Starbucks empire (post 2000) so many of the locations are still new, the economic impetus for their location still remains, and they probably still produce well. In other cities they've been in for a couple of decades, some locales fortunes have probably changed and they will be culled. Or there is the legendary oversupply ("we met at the Starbucks, but not the same Starbucks, the one across the street") which is probably why so many new locales are on the list, but we don't quite have that layer of Starbucks density.
In the end, this is par for the course for large chains. McDonald's, BK and even Walmart have retrenched hundreds if not thousands of individual locations over the years. SBUX may not be a hot investment, but it will roll on...

Posted 3 years ago #
Daz
Tweeting about some totally unimportant event
Login to Send PM

dru wrote we met at the Starbucks, but not the same Starbucks, the one across the street
One of those "Brilliant movies that you've never seen," and that scene has me rolling every time.
On topic, as far as the large companies go, they're probably the best one out there. Yeah, they make money, but the general good that they do (cancer foundations, battered womens', environment) makes them so far from evil that I can't help to feel sad about this.
Not to mention, 12,000 jobs... across the US.

Posted 3 years ago #
gramarye
In Exile
Login to Send PM

I think we'll probably see a few culled in Columbus nevertheless, just from places where there are two too close together. I'll also be interested to see if there are patterns to the ones that vanish or survive--e.g., whether their mall-kiosk format survives better than their standalone strip-center format or others.

Posted 3 years ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
Login to Send PM

dru wrote I doubt this will affect the Columbus locations too much. Columbus was actually late to the Starbucks empire (post 2000) so many of the locations are still new, the economic impetus for their location still remains, and they probably still produce well.
The Article wrote Seventy percent of the stores to be shut are less than three years old, the company said.

Posted 3 years ago #
dru
IV
Login to Send PM

Walker wrote
dru wrote I doubt this will affect the Columbus locations too much. Columbus was actually late to the Starbucks empire (post 2000) so many of the locations are still new, the economic impetus for their location still remains, and they probably still produce well.
The Article wrote Seventy percent of the stores to be shut are less than three years old, the company said.
I read the article, thus the comment:
Or there is the legendary oversupply ("we met at the Starbucks, but not the same Starbucks, the one across the street") which is probably why so many new locales are on the list, but we don't quite have that layer of Starbucks density.
I'm just saying we might lose a couple, but this isn't Chicago or DC where the new ones that popped up in the last 2-3 years are within 2-3 blocks of older ones. Almost all of Columbus' are newer ones and are distinct to there area. So maybe they will chop the one in the corner of Macy's at Easton and leave only the other 2 out there (although I don't know if the Macy's one is an official Starbucks, many of the kiosks are only licensed to sell the coffee). Perhaps 5th Ave in Grandview will lose one of two. But I don't think anyone is going to notice less Starbucks around Columbus.

Posted 3 years ago #
L.I. to Buckeye
West side/Galloway
Login to Send PM

gramarye wrote I think we'll probably see a few culled in Columbus nevertheless, just from places where there are two too close together. I'll also be interested to see if there are patterns to the ones that vanish or survive--e.g., whether their mall-kiosk format survives better than their standalone strip-center format or others.
I was thinking about the Polaris area. There are at least 3 Starbucks stores on Polaris Parkway from Sancus to N. State Street in Westerville, PLUS the kiosks in the mall, in the Meijer on Polaris & N. State, and in the 2 Kroger stores in the area. If that isn't oversaturation, I'm not sure what is.

Posted 3 years ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
Login to Send PM

dru wrote Almost all of Columbus' are newer ones and are distinct to there area.
The ones that always jump out at me are the two downtown at Broad & High, and Broad & Third, a block apart. Lat 41 also serves Starbucks, and I'm sure a few other places within a block do as well. Wonder if one of them will make the cut.

Posted 3 years ago #
Ndcent
OTE
Login to Send PM

MatthewJR30 wrote Only loss here is jobs.
True. I never really cared for Starbucks.

Posted 3 years ago #
joev
Merion Village
Login to Send PM

Walker wrote
dru wrote Almost all of Columbus' are newer ones and are distinct to there area.
The ones that always jump out at me are the two downtown at Broad & High, and Broad & Third, a block apart. Lat 41 also serves Starbucks, and I'm sure a few other places within a block do as well. Wonder if one of them will make the cut.
I heard an interview of the CEO on NPR yesterday - he said most of the stores that are closing will be new locations that haven't developed a customer base yet. I would wager that the two downtown have a pretty good base of regulars. Maybe the one across from Lennox on Olentangy with a drivethrough? Or maybe the one at High and Greenlawn won't open?

Posted 3 years ago #
dru
IV
Login to Send PM

Walker wrote Lat 41 also serves Starbucks
Most places like this that serve Starbucks are not counted in their store count. Most every college campus, 1/2 the large hotels I've been, and several grocery and department stores have a kiosk that serves Starbucks, but they are rarely official Starbucks retail outlets. They are only licensed to sell/brew the coffee and often don't have the full range of other products and their employees are not baristas with the somewhat generous Starbucks compensation packages.
You can see what they count as locations at:
http://www.starbucks.com/retail/find/LocatorResults.aspx?fs=1&loc=Columbus%2C%20OH|39.961999078924315|-83.00302694512287
You'll note the GV Kroger is the only retail outlet selling 'bucks that counts as an official store.
Starbucks owns about 16000 stores across the US. 2,496 in California alone. So this is a small dent, and I guess at most Columbus sees 2 actual storefronts disappear. We've seen more Wendy's go in that time. I'll bet a 'large iced, unsweetened, no room' on it.

Posted 3 years ago #
catnfiddle
Giant Corncob District
Login to Send PM

Latitude 41 serves Starbucks despite Cafe Brioso being a couple of blocks away? I thought Lat 41 was all about using local ingredients. Maybe that doesn't extend to beverages.

Posted 3 years ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
Login to Send PM

I believe it's more of a choice of the hotel than it is the restaurant. Feel free to email them and ask for something else though. ;)

Posted 3 years ago #
joev
Merion Village
Login to Send PM

Let's just say that no coffee is really local. If we were to want truly local coffee, we'd be drinking brewed chickory root.

Posted 3 years ago #
Daz
Tweeting about some totally unimportant event
Login to Send PM

joev wrote Let's just say that no coffee is really local. If we were to want truly local coffee, we'd be drinking brewed chickory root.
Truth.
Plus, Starbucks is one of the few that actually offers Fair Trade.

Posted 3 years ago #
johnaesthetica
Wilmington
Login to Send PM

Earlier this week, I was informed that my starbucks would be closing at the end of July.
When I heard the news on NPR last week, I immediately thought of my store, which hasn't made a profit in 7 years of being open.
While it's true that most of the stores closing are newer stores, mine has been in its community for a while, and has one of the best cafe atmospheres in the Columbus market. We regularly get the best per-hour tips, because our regular customers are amazing and we serve the same people everyday.
I'm not yet at liberty to say which one it is, but I will say it's not a drive-thru store. Though, it's right next to one...
:(
P.S. The good thing about Starbucks, though, is its ability to relocate all the partners to other stores in the district. So, none of us is out of a job, save for our manager. That's the only real loss in our case.

Posted 3 years ago #
Bear
The woods
Login to Send PM

johnaesthetica wrote Earlier this week, I was informed that my starbucks would be closing at the end of July. ... none of us is out of a job, save for our manager. That's the only real loss in our case.
Sorry to hear it, John.

Posted 3 years ago #
gobluegirl
northeast suburbs
Login to Send PM

Walker wrote
dru wrote Almost all of Columbus' are newer ones and are distinct to there area.
The ones that always jump out at me are the two downtown at Broad & High, and Broad & Third, a block apart. Lat 41 also serves Starbucks, and I'm sure a few other places within a block do as well. Wonder if one of them will make the cut.
I was thinking that, too, but both always have a really long line. I can't imagine what will happen if they close one or the other; it will take 20 min just to get a cup of coffee!

Posted 3 years ago #