In a Tuesday (Dec. 30) CNN report about the coffeehouse chain’s plans in the wake of those closures, a Starbucks spokesperson told the media outlet that the new and remodeled stores will feature “refreshed designs and elevated experiences that reflect the Starbucks brand.”
The spokesperson said that when the company prepared to shutter locations in September, it reviewed its 18,000 stores in the U.S. and “closed locations that were underperforming or unable to meet our brand standards.”
The renovations of 1,000 Starbucks stores will include new chairs, couches, tables and power outlets, according to the report.
CNBC included Starbucks in a feature about restaurants that closed locations in 2025, and it reported that the company is one of several chains that said they were helping their businesses by reducing their number of facilities.
The report said that Starbucks aimed to reduce a sales slump in the U.S. and that the company announced its store closures about a year after Brian Niccol became CEO.
Starbucks executives plan to share more details about the company’s turnaround plans during an investor day event in late January, according to the report.
When Niccol announced the store closures and the elimination of 900 jobs in September, he said the moves followed a review of Starbucks’ North American operations.
“During the review, we identified coffeehouses where we’re unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners expect, or where we don’t see a path to financial performance, and those locations will be closed,” Niccol said in an announcement to employees.
Starbucks will focus on locations that are more in tune with Niccol’s effort to make the coffeehouses more inviting and relaxing, he said.
The company said in October that its turnaround strategy led to its first global comparable store sales growth in seven quarters.
Niccol had previewed the “Back to Starbucks” strategy in a September 2024 letter to partners, customers and stakeholders, saying he intended to guide the coffee giant back to its roots while navigating the future.
