Published: Sep 24, 2026, 10:29 PM
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Starbucks announced plans to close roughly 250 stores across North America this week, company COO Mike Grams revealed Thursday.
Grams announced the closure in a public statement, saying that while most of its 18,000 North American stores were profitable, a small portion has been struggling.
"We have carefully reviewed our North America coffeehouse portfolio and identified locations where we do not believe we can consistently deliver the experience we want for customers and partners or where we don’t see a path to acceptable financial performance," Grams said in the announcement, which was in the form of a letter to "Partners."
"As a result, we will close approximately 250 coffeehouses later this week. This represents approximately 1% of our more than 18,000 North America coffeehouses," he added.
"Closing any coffeehouse is a difficult decision, and we know today’s news will be hard for the partners, customers and communities affected," the statement said.
The announcement comes just days after Starbucks resolved a DEI lawsuit in Florida last week. The coffee giant will pay Florida $1 million and will not use race- and sex-based goals, quotas and preferences in employment practices companywide under a sweeping settlement.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier's office confirmed to Fox News Digital that the agreement applies to all Starbucks operations nationwide, not just the company's locations in Florida.
"Every Floridian deserves to be hired, promoted and compensated based on merit, qualifications and character — not race or sex," Uthmeier told Fox News Digital. "This resolution ensures that Starbucks’ policies and practices fully comply with Florida’s civil rights laws. DEI can never be an excuse to violate civil rights."
The negotiated resolution ends the lawsuit Uthmeier filed in December 2025 accusing Starbucks of violating the Florida Civil Rights Act through racial and sex-based goals, quotas and preferences in its workplace policies.
Under the agreement, Starbucks committed to complying with the state civil rights law, which prohibits race- and sex-based preferences in hiring, promotions, pay, executive compensation, mentorship programs, supplier selection and board composition.
The company also agreed it will not participate in organizations that require it to increase the racial diversity of its board of directors.
Starbucks' chief legal officer will be required to submit annual certifications of the company's continued compliance for four years. The company will also pay $1 million to the Florida Department of Legal Affairs to reimburse the office for the time, expenses and costs of bringing the case.
Fox News' Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
