Multiple Starbucks locations in the D.C. area will close as the company lays off 900 nonretail employees and spends an expected $1 billion on turnaround efforts.
News4 spotted closing signs on the locations at:
- 2228 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE in Anacostia
- 1801 Columbia Road NW in Adams Morgan
- 1600 U St. NW in the U Street area
- 2225 Georgia Ave. NW near Howard University
“We’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to close this Starbucks location by the end of this week,” signs posted on the windows said. “We know this may be hard to hear – because this isn’t just any store. It’s your coffeehouse, a place woven into your daily rhythm, where memories were made, and where meaningful connections with our partners grew over the years.”
Starbucks did not release a full list of locations that will close. A spokesperson said signs will be posted and customers will receive an email.
In a statement Thursday, CEO Brian Niccol said Starbucks “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 these locations will be closed.”
Coffeeshop employees will be offered transfers to other locations when possible or offered severance packages. In nonretail positions, 900 jobs will be cut.
Within the next year, Starbucks said the company plans to beautify over 1,000 coffeehouses and establish new locations across the U.S. Due to the changes, the company expects to spend $150 million on employee separation benefits and an additional $850 million related to closing stores and exiting leases.
The Anacostia location was Starbucks’ first standalone location in D.C. east of the Anacostia River, News4 reported. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office said in 2017 that a deal to bring the coffeeshop to an affordable housing development would help bring “jobs and business to a long-vacant parcel in the heart of historic Anacostia.”
“This announcement is great news for the residents of Ward 8,” D.C. Councilmember Trayon White said in a statement at the time. “We have waited years for more equitable development. Starbucks’ entrance into our community will bring good jobs and will jumpstart a wave of business growth along MLK.”
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