Starbucks to close Schenectady, Colonie shops Friday, July 18, 2008
COLONIE — Two of Starbucks Corp.’s first drive-thru stores in the Capital Region will be driven out of business as the Seattle coffee giant backtracks on its once-mbition global growth plans.
Starbucks late Thursday released a list detailing most of the 600 under-performing store closures it announced earlier this month. Thirty-nine coffee shops in New York are slated to close, including the Starbucks on Central Avenue in Colonie and Watt Street in Schenectady.
The closures mark an about-face for Starbucks, which less than a year ago was on course to open 40,000 stores worldwide. By April, it had 16,000 stores in 44 countries.
To help the company achieve that goal, it rolled out drive-thru stores intended to draw customers in suburban areas while also tapping into rival Dunkin’ Donuts’ market of java drinkers on the go. But Starbucks President and Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz last week admitted in a letter to employees that “Poor real estate decisions were made” and worsened by the nation’s economic downturn.
The 600 closures will be staggered starting this month through the first half of 2009. Seventy percent of those stores have opened during the past two years. The Colonie Starbucks at Kohl’s Plaza opened only 16 months ago. Plaza owner Lerner Heidenberg Properties in Closter, N.J. tore down a vacant auto repair shop to build the 1,660-square-foot drive-thru coffee shop.
The Watt Street store also opened less than two years ago — next to a Dunkin’ Donuts. That 1,660-square-foot shop was Schenectady’s first and remains its only Starbucks.
SEATTLE (AP) -- A Starbucks cafe in Schenectady is among 27 across the country the coffee-brewing company says it will keep open after they proved more profitable than thought.
The company says about a quarter of the cafes that will be spared are in Texas. The others announced Thursday are in Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
The saved Schenectady shop is on Watt St. off Route 7.
Executives said Wednesday they decided to keep roughly 30 company-owned cafes open after reviewing their finances. They were among 800 U.S. shops to be shut in an effort to shave costs companywide.
I'm really surprised! Really! I never see too many customers there. I usually see more at dunkin donuts. Who knew?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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