A decade ago, Starbucks’s emerald siren would glow on the corner of every high street. Inside, it was a dimly lit utopia where the bean grinders churned, the steam drifted to the ceiling, and baristas would enthusiastically shout out your name. Posting a blurry Instagram picture of your cup was the ultimate status symbol (extra points if your name was actually spelt correctly). I’d know because I was an obsessive: cut me and I’d bleed caramel frappuccino. The drink was an essential accessory for days out at my local shopping centre, in an era of peak Americana in the UK – the hearts and minds of British teenage girls had been captured by the likes of Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch and Forever 21. Starbucks was an exciting third space, defined by secret menus, cookie-flavoured frappés and quirky American retail traits. Plus, the coffee wasn’t awful, either.
Today, though, it’s a different picture. On Thursday, the company announced that it would close an unspecified number of UK stores, as well as cut about 900 jobs in the US, as part of a cost-saving restructuring plan amid slowing sales. In a letter to employees, the company’s executive Brian Niccol – recruited last year to get Starbucks’s mojo back – said the chain would shut locations that were unable to “deliver a warm and welcoming space” or meet financial targets. In July, Starbucks reported its sixth consecutive quarterly decline in sales at stores open for at least a year. The company’s shares have fallen 8.8 per cent while an index of restaurant and bar company stocks has risen 6.5 per cent. These are not the first batch of layoffs this year, either: in February, more than 1000 jobs in the US were cut, and menus were simplified, to help flagging sales in its home market.
