Starbucks will close up to 400 stores, plans ‘repositioning’ to more pickup locations

Starbucks is set to close up to 400 operated stores over the next 18 months, the company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday.

The company did not respond to a request for comment about which or how many stores could be affected in Nevada.

With many workers still at home and customer traffic patterns shifting, Starbucks said it is also accelerating a plan to build smaller, pickup-only locations in major U.S. cities. It’s also retrofitting some cafes to accommodate mobile pickup and delivery orders.

Starbucks opened two pickup locations in New York and Toronto over the past seven months. It had planned to open more over a three- to five-year time period but has pushed that timetable to the next 18 months. Starbucks said 80 percent of U.S. Starbucks transactions even before the pandemic were to-go orders.

Wednesday’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the virus outbreak will slash operating income between $2 billion and $2.2. billion for the quarter, which ends June 28. Starbucks plans to report its third-quarter results on July 28.

Starbucks was forced to close its stores to customers at the height of the pandemic but continued to operate drive-thru and pickup in many locations. The Seattle company said 95 percent of its 8,000 U.S. company-run stores are now open with varying levels of service, just slightly lower than operations globally.

A news release said Starbucks has resumed some store openings but expected to “reposition” stores over the next 18 months, resulting in a net of about 300 net new stores in fiscal 2020, down from previous plans to open 600.

It said it also expected a net reduction of about 200 Canadian stores during the next 18 months.

Review-Journal staffer Marvin Clemons contributed to this report.