The Starbucks Coffee chain continues to undergo a major restructuring and its latest cost cutting moves include shuttering the Starbucks at 68a Central St. in Wellesley: A sign about the closing has been posted at the shop and the marketing language reads:
To our amazing customers,
We’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to close this Starbucks location by the end of this week. We know this may be hard to hear — because this isn’t just any store. It’s your coffeehouse, a place where your daily rhythm, where memories were made, where meaningful connections with our partners grew. We’re deeply grateful for the community that’s been built here.
We know many of you will be missing your favorite partner, and we’re working closely to support our partners through this transition.
Our commitment to creating welcoming, memorable experiences remains unchanged. We hope you’ll visit us at a nearby Starbucks where we’d be honored to continue sharing moments with you.
Thank you for being part of our story. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
With heartfelt gratitude,
The Starbucks Coffee Company
The company website also shows the shop no longer being open after this Saturday (Starbucks will officially update its app over the weekend to disclose closures).
Starbucks opened in Wellesley Square in 1995, replacing The Coffee Connection. At the time, a Starbucks spokesman told The Wellesley Townsman that “We have a significant number of Starbucks mail order customers from Wellesley. We feel this location can better serve our customers as a Starbucks.”
The Wellesley Square Starbucks closure will be one of possibly about 200 shutdowns, and in addition to those who lose their jobs at these shops and aren’t transferred, some 900 non-retail employees are being let go.
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Meanwhile, the Starbucks shop in Linden Square looks to be safe: The corporate website continues to show hours into the future for it.
Among those being closed beyond Wellesley, according to WCVB-TV, is the Boston Starbucks under the steaming kettle at Government Center. By year end, Starbucks still expects to have some 18,300 shops across the U.S. and Canada.
U.S. store sales have been falling at Starbucks for more than a year.
A memo issued by Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol explained the company’s rationale for its latest changes. It reads in part:
First, I shared earlier this year that we were carefully reviewing our North America coffeehouse portfolio through the additional lens of our Back to Starbucks plan. Our goal is for every coffeehouse to deliver a warm and welcoming space with a great atmosphere and a seat for every occasion.
During the review, we identified coffeehouses where we’re unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners expect, or where we don’t see a path to financial performance, and these locations will be closed.
Separately, across the street from the Wellesley Square Starbucks, a Blank Street Coffee shop is attempting to open. It has had to address grease trap requirements before opening. We’ve reached out to property manager Linear Retail for an update.
Post updated on 9/26 at 1pm.
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Is this closing fully due to the restructuring of Starbucks corporate restructuring? I wonder. The other variable is that the rents and taxes that businesses pay in Wellesley are increasing so that places in to that are part of the fabric of the community need to leave. That was the problem with Amarin’s which closed recently. I do not know what happened to Laughing Dog Yoga, but I do not think that that businesses who have been here for decades just up and leave on some whim.
I do not know how to rectify the problem of community businesses leaving. But, despite rent increases, I feel the community is actually poorer when it happens.