- Starbucks is closing seven locations in San Francisco as the chain cuts back on a dense store network.
- The chain reduced the number of stores it operates in the city recently, though it's still opening new ones.
Starbucks is closing seven stores in San Francisco as it renovates others and adds a pickup-only location.
The coffee chain announced the closings in a memo to district managers at stores in the city, the San Francisco Business Times reported on Tuesday. A Starbucks spokesperson shared the memo with Insider.
The coffee chain currently operates 59 stores in the city. That figure includes company-owned stores and doesn't count licensed locations, such as those in a Target or Safeway store. The total is set to shrink as Starbucks closes the following locations:
201 Mission St.
442 Geary St.
425 Battery St.
398 Market St.
780 Market St.
555 California St.
1401 Van Ness Ave.
Starbucks regularly reevaluates its store locations, the company spokesperson told Insider. That review process "includes opening new locations, identifying stores in need of investment or renovation, exploring locations where an alternative format is needed and, in some instances, re-evaluating our footprint."
Employees, whom Starbucks calls "partners," who work at the stores will have a chance to transfer to other locations, the Starbucks spokesperson told Insider.
Even without the planned closures, Starbucks operates fewer stores in San Francisco than it did several years ago. In 2015, there were 71 company-owned locations in the city, according to the Business Times.
For decades, San Francisco had a particularly high density of Starbucks locations thanks to Starbucks' 1998 acquisition of local coffee chain Pasqua Coffee Co. That deal led to some Starbucks locations being much closer together than they would've been otherwise, according to the Times.
Starbucks has "opened or re-opened" three locations in San Francisco over the last six months, the company spokesperson told Insider. One of them is a pickup-only location next to a transit station on bustling Market Street, the company said.
Starbucks is developing new store formats as alternatives to its traditional cafes where customers can order a drink and lounge around. The chain is expanding its delivery options and considering locations focused entirely on delivery, for example, Nation's Restaurant News reported in June.
Foot traffic in central San Francisco remains below what it was before the pandemic, when the business district welcomed more office workers and commuters daily.
Retailers from Nordstrom to Whole Foods have closed stores in downtown San Francisco, many without planning new locations, over the past few years. A handful of retailers have said that crime affected their decision to close up shop.
But other brands have expanded their presence in the city, such as luxury brands Chanel and Yves Saint-Laurent.