June 19 (UPI) — Starbucks announced Tuesday it plans to close 150 underperforming stores in the 2019 fiscal year.
The company will triple its traditional annual average of closing about 50 stores as part of a streamlining effort including rapidly optimizing its U.S. store portfolio.
“While certain demand headwinds are transitory, and some of our cost increases are appropriate investments for the future, our recent performance does not reflect the potential of our exceptional brand and is not acceptable,” Starbucks President and CEO Kevin Johnson said.
In July 2017, Starbucks closed all 379 Teavana locations after the tea shop showed poor sales and little hope of improving.
“Over the past year we have taken several actions to streamline the company, positioning us to increase our innovation agility as an organization and enhance focus on our core value drivers which serve as the foundation to re-accelerate growth and create long-term shareholder value,” Johnson said.
Starbucks also told investors it expects same-store sales to grow 1 percent globally in the third quarter of 2018.
