Starbucks to close stores and cut 900 workers, CEO announces

Starbucks will lay off employees and close shops as it continues its restructuring, though it's unclear how Long Island stores will be impacted.

CEO Brian Niccol announced on the Starbucks blog Thursday morning that the company will close some stores and cut 900 "nonretail partner roles" starting Friday.

Starbucks wouldn't give a number of stores that are closing, but the bulk of the closures appear to be in the United States. and Canada.

"We will offer generous severance and support packages including benefits extensions," Niccol wrote. "Unless your job specifically requires you to be on site in the office, we’re asking you to work from home today and tomorrow."

The local Starbucks union, Workers United, said in a statement that "yet again, we’re experiencing new policies and major decisions being made with zero barista input. Workers United is sending a formal request for information to Starbucks about the planned closures."

The union also said that it expects to engage in bargaining for all its union stores.

Niccol also said that Starbucks will end its fiscal year with 18,300 stores in North America, down 124 from last year. He added that the company plans to "uplift" and redesign some existing stores to add "warmth" and "layered design."

Global Starbucks sales declined 2% in the third quarter of 2025, according to the company's financial report. U.S. store sales also declined 2%, the report said, even as the company opened more than 300 locations in the fiscal period for a total 41,097 stores worldwide.

This is the second round of layoffs at Starbucks in 2025, according to The Associated Press. In February, Niccol announced that 1,100 corporate employees would be laid off globally and eliminated several hundred open positions. Niccol also said Starbucks needed to operate more efficiently.

Starbucks stocks were down less than 1% as of Thursday afternoon, according to Yahoo Finance. Starbucks has a market cap of $95.15 billion.

There are more than 100 Starbucks locations on Long Island, according to its website's store locator. There are 12 unionized locations on Long Island, according to Workers United.

With The Associated Press