Starbucks is taking “significant action” to turn around its struggling business, closing a large number of cafés and announcing a second round of layoffs at its headquarters as part of CEO Brian Niccol’s efforts to resuscitate the troubled chain.
Niccol announced Thursday that Starbucks will close hundreds of stores this month, or about 1% of its locations.
The company had 18,734 North American locations at the end of June, and the company said it will end September with 18,300 stores.
Shares of Starbucks (SBUX) were flat in premarket trading.
“This is a more significant action that we understand will impact partners and customers.
In addition to the store closures, Starbucks announced an additional 900 corporate layoffs, on top of the roughly 1,000 layoffs in February.
The company also tweaked its name to “Starbucks Coffee Company” to reinforce its coffee roots. »