It’s a common saying that with so many Starbucks locations, you can find one on every corner in most American cities (sometimes two). And here’s the city with the most Starbucks locations. But in San Francisco, some locals are being deprived of their caffeine fix after a spate of recent store closures. The newest closure is located in Levi’s Plaza in the Financial District of the city near the waterfront. In statements from the company, Starbucks did not give a specific reason for the closure but told KRON4, “As part of Starbucks standard course of business, we continually evaluate our business to ensure a healthy store portfolio. After careful consideration, we made the decision to close our store at 1255 Battery Street at lease end.” Employees at this location have also been given the option to transfer to other stores. This is at least the sixth store closure for Starbucks in San Francisco dating back to November of 2024
With so many forces at work both at Starbucks and in San Francisco, it can be hard to parse the meaning behind individual store closures. Retailers in Downtown San Francisco have been struggling since the rise of remote work during the pandemic drew away much of its workforce, and another Starbucks location nearby at 99 Jackson St. closed a few months ago. Starbucks is also in the middle of a large overhaul of its business, with new CEO Brian Niccol trying to push the company back to its coffeehouse roots while also slashing some of Starbucks’ underperforming drinks.
Starbucks has closed at least six locations throughout San Francisco since last year
While these closures might be a bad sign for San Francisco, it’s also possible that Starbucks had just overexpanded in the city. The chain still has around 50 locations throughout San Francisco, and according to reporting from The Real Deal, the company was trying to negotiate lower rents in some of the recently closed stores, indicating that it might have kept them open at lower costs. The company has denied that a lack of customers or crime was a factor in recent closures. Starbucks has also opened or reopened three other locations in downtown San Francisco in recent years, showing a commitment to the neighborhood and signaling that the recent closures may have had more to do with the individual leases and landlords than the area itself.
The close proximity of some Starbucks locations to each other means that stores may have been cutting into other locations’ business instead of standing on their own. And as Starbucks tries to move back towards being a place where people hang out, the store layouts in some spots may not be compatible with the company’s business model anymore. In particular, the newly closed Levi’s Plaza location apparently lacked a bathroom. So while closures like this are tough for local Starbucks fans and people who gathered there, sometimes, change like this is inevitable, and it sounds like there will still be plenty of local spots for people to grab their favorite Starbucks drinks.
