Starbucks just dropped a regulatory filing announcing they’re shutting down roughly 250 underperforming cafes across North America later this week, representing about 1% of their 18,000 regional footprint. The move triggers an immediate $300 million restructuring charge and follows a separate $1 billion store and roastery restructuring push executed exactly one year ago. This is the second major round of closures under CEO Brian Niccol's "Back to Starbucks" turnaround framework, directly targeting long-term capital allocation efficiency, cost cuts, and margin expansion. Crucially for forward-looking guidance, corporate has slashed its fiscal 2026 global net new store opening projection down to approximately 440 cafes, a massive drop from the previously guided range of 600 to 650 openings. Management is trading aggressive footprint growth to focus capital expenditures on retrofitting 1,500 existing stores with higher-throughput layout upgrades, aiming to optimize drive-thru velocity and ultimately achieve their broader macro target of $2 billion in total cost reductions by the end of fiscal year 2028. Is this the right move to save margins?
Source: [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/24/starbucks-to-close-250-stores.html)
