Starbucks to open 1,500 more U.S. stores in the next five years

Remember when Starbucks closed 1,000 stores in 2008? The company now says they weren't shuttered because Starbucks was oversaturated; it was simply a case of the company not being careful about where it put new stores. (I take that as a dig at former CEO Jim Donald.)

It will be interesting to see where they place these new U.S. stores; as I travel, I still get the sense that I'm always within a mile (or less) of a Starbucks.

* Starbucks to open 1,500 more cafes in the U.S.

From 2008:
* Starbucks to close 600 underperforming stores, lay off 12,000

From 2009:
* Starbucks to close 300 more stores, cut 6,000 jobs

Comments

[TiredofThis]

I agree that the major problem before was them putting stores in the wrong location. This is actually a good thing that they are expanding again.

[Herman]

Is the webmaster still in Evanston?

Check out http://www.statemaster.com/graph/lif_sta_sto-lifestyle-starbucks-stores

listing stores by state. Illinois is 4th with more stores the bottom 10 or 15 states combined. I'll bet many of the Illinois stores are around Chicago with them few and far between downstate.

[Lisa K. Smith]

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results.

[I <3 music]

If you don't learn from history you're doomed to repeat it.

[LadyKathryn]

@Herman - I live in downstate Illinois, and you are absolutely right. I'm sure there's a ton of them in Chicago, but go much further south, and there's pretty much nothing. A handful of licensed stores, but that's it.

If Starbucks is going to open new stores, I wish they'd do a better job of spreading them out, this time. There are coffee drinkers in smaller, more rural areas, too. Not just in the big cities. =P

[Shifted]

Financial advantages to doing things this way:
1) Get out of bad lease agreements.
2) Lose 6000+ employees who were hired in, given good pay, benefits, given expectation of advancement, coffee passion, careers, etc.
3) Hire in however many new employees, lower (relative) pay, poorer or no benefits, expectation of being fast food drones.

...therefore looking good to: stock nerds; new corporate-overlord layers of management; Howie's jet salesperson.

[That Guy]

Most customers don't care about how much passion you have for your coffee. They want a speedy service with a smile and the human connection.

You call them fast food drones, I it an evolved position based on customer demands.

[Crema]

That Guy hit it on the head.