SIGN OF TIMES: STARBUCKS CLOSING 600 USA STORES

(07/03/2008)

Pricey coffee chain Starbucks announced yesterday it will close 600 stores in the United States in the next year and cut back the number of new stores it had planned to open. The closures are likely linked to the downturn in the US economy, a recession that is yet to be declared. Starbucks said 70 percent of the 600 stores slated to be closed had opened since the start of 2006. News reports said once those under-performing stores have shut down — a process the company said will happen gradually from now until the first half of 2009 — Starbucks said it expects the change to boost earnings by $100 million a year.

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