Starbucks to shutter about 250 stores in latest round of cafe closures

Starbucks on Thursday announced it will close about 1% of its North American cafes as part of its turnaround. Under CEO Brian Niccol, Starbucks has staged a revamp of its U.S. business that has focused on improving the customer experience, including in-person interactions at its cafes. The announcement marks the second round of closures in North America during Niccol's two-year tenure. Starbucks expects to shutter about 250 cafes out of its more than 18,000 locations in North America. For fiscal 2026, Starbucks is now projecting net new openings of 440 cafes, down from its prior outlook of 600 to 650 locations. Those new cafes will come from its international markets.