Jul 14, 2008 3:59 pm US/Central
2 Suburban Starbucks Stores To Close
(AP)
Stores in Elmhurst and Country Club Hills are among the first 50 out of 600 company-owned stores Starbucks Corp. says it will close in a bid to regain its footing and get rid of unprofitable locations.
The Starbucks at North Avenue and York in Elmhurst and the one at 167th and Crawford in Country Club Hills are slated to close, according to a list posted Friday night on the company's Web site.
The 50 stores will shut by the end of July, the company said.
According to the list, Starbucks will close eight stores in California and seven stores in Minnesota.
In addition to the two suburban locations, the gourmet coffee retailer said it will also close four stores in Alabama, two in Arkansas, two in Indiana, two in Louisiana, five in Nevada, three in New York, two in Ohio and five in Texas.
The company will also close one store in each of Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota and West Virginia.
The company announced earlier this month that it would close 600 company-owned stores in the U.S. starting in July and continuing through the first half of fiscal 2009, but did not offer any details on which locations would be shut down.
The move to close the stores is a retreat from the aggressive expansion plans that had previously been a company hallmark. But Starbucks has watched its traffic and its profits decline recently as the faltering economy has led some consumers to question their spending on pricey coffee.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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