Starbucks to Reduce Number of Store Openings in `25 Amid Redesign

Starbucks has experienced a lot of change in the past year, between its new leadership under CEO Brian Niccol and a new return-to-office mandate for white-collar workers starting in 2025.

But now it seems like the Seattle-based coffee chain is taking a small step back and curbing the number of new stores it plans to open in the new year.

“We are taking a little bit of a pause in reducing the number of new stores and renovations to give us an opportunity to redesign,” Angele Robinson-Gaylord, Starbucks’ senior vice president of store development for the Americas, said Wednesday during a panel at the ICSC New York retail convention.

Speaking in Manhattan at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Robinson-Gaylord said the plans are part of Starbucks’ broader goal of redesigning its stores under Niccol’s new leadership.

That redesign includes plans to alter physical elements, such as changing furniture and providing mugs for in-store customers, as well as establishing a “no more than four-minute wait time,” Robinson-Gaylord added.

And all of this is thanks to the new strategy from Niccol, known for reviving Chipotle when he was CEO, who took over the helm of the coffee chain in August to turn around the company. One part of that effort is requiring its roughly 3,500 corporate employees to work in the office at least three days a week starting in January.

“Brian Niccol has brought an incredible amount of energy and experience coming in from Chipotle,” Robinson-Gaylord said during the panel. “That energy he’s brought has been infused across the organization, and our homework is to go back to Starbucks and make sure we have warm, welcoming locations.”

It’s unclear if the company plans to close stores as part of the process, but Chief Finance Officer Rachel Ruggeri said in a recent earnings call that the curbing of new locations was an effort to bring Starbucks back to its roots “while also unlocking capital to support our broader turnaround.”

“We expect this shift, coupled with efficiencies, will help us balance our investments accordingly,” Ruggeri added.

But the news comes after a string of recent store closings for Starbucks. In July, the coffee chain closed a nearly 30-year-old location in Manhattan’s East Village at 13-25 Astor Place, and it also shuttered several locations in the West Village last year.

Brandon Singer, CEO and founder of Retail by MONA, said Starbucks’ plans for the new year may be a result of the company adjusting to the current retail reality.

“They probably want to evaluate the landscape,” Singer told Commercial Observer. “With them in particular, the dynamics of an in-store experience change for a customer. They probably want to figure out a way to get modernized with their footprint and their strategy. But they’re not going anywhere.”

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.