07.17.2008 11:44 pm
Starbucks to close 16 St. Louis-area stores
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Starbucks Corp. has named 16 company-owned stores in the St. Louis area that it plans to close. Starbucks currently has about 80 stores in the St. Louis area.
Earlier this month, the company announced that it would close 600 company-owned stores in the U.S. starting in July and continuing through the first half of the next fiscal year. (Map of stores closing across the nation.)
Starbucks had been aggressively expanding in the St. Louis area and across the nation. But the company has seen its profits decline as a faltering economy led some consumers to cut back on spending.
Here is a list of the area stores that will be closing, according to the Starbucks website:
- Clayton and Baxter, 14815 Clayton Road, Chesterfield
- Highway N & Highway 40, 7827 Highway N, Dardenne Prairie
- Graham & I 270, 1261 Graham Road, Florissant
- Nameoki & Johnson, 3457 Nameoki Road, Granite City
- Howdershell & Dunn, 6045 Howdershell Road, Hazelwood
- West Florissant at Lucas & Hunt, 8031 West Florissant Avenue, Jennings
- Highway K & Weldon Spring, 4581 Highway K, O’Fallon, Mo.
- Elm & State Highway-370, 3788 Elm Street, St. Charles
- Union Station, 1820 Market Street, St. Louis
- Euclid & Laclede, 9 North Euclid Avenue, St. Louis
- 7th & Russell, 2000 South 7th Street, St. Louis
- Telegraph & Erb, 6070 H Telegraph Road, south St. Louis County
- Manchester & Sappington, 10025 Manchester Road, Warson Woods
- Highway 100 & South Pointe, 3081 Phoenix Center Drive, Washington, Mo.
- Lockwood & McClure, 234 West Lockwood, Webster Groves
- Highway 94 & O’Fallon Road, 5851 Westwood Drive, Weldon Spring
Four of the sixteen stores (25% of the closings) are located in st. charles county…apparently, st. charles county won’t accept $2.00+ coffee.
I guess they grew too fast and/or and at the wrong time, the last 5 months they added 2 near my house that is closing and one near my work. It is a shame they seemed to be a good company, but I guess with the economy the way it is, one of the first things people cut out is the $3.00 coffee when you can get a coffee at McDonalds for $1.00 (even though it may not be as good). I am anxious to see how this affects the small coffee shop owners that are across the street from the Starbucks that are closing, I bet they are happy.
Starbucks needs to have a better/larger dining area for customers who prefer inside seating.
Tried one cup of the stuff years ago. I’d rather just put coffee grounds in my check like snuff than pay those prices for that crap! TOO STRONG for me.
I have seen several comments that it tastes like it has been burned. This conversation came up around the coffee pot this morning in the break room and several people mentioned the burned taste as the reason they don’t like it either and others can’t get enough.
My favorite Starbucks story is in New York City in which they have two Starbucks right across the street from each other.
Free Tipsheet. Do me a favor, and email mike smith at mikesmith@post-dispatch.com and ask him to FREE TIPSHEET. It will take you 10 seconds to fight tyranny!
There seems to be confusion on how much the coffee costs. The only way your drink is going to be $8 is if you bought the most expensive thing on the menu and then added 10 additional espresso shots.
Both me and wife for some time have been saying that there is no way in this marketplace that all these stores can survive. Starbucks is competing against itself in this marketplace. Take for example in Wentzville (which hasn’t closed yet). There is a free standing store on the Parkway in front of Target. You go in to Target there is a dedicated in store Starbucks. I’m not talking a kiosk but a true dedicated store with lots of seating. This reminds me of Krispy Kreme. A hot IPO that has brewed no business in the future.
I hate to see any more vacant buildings in STL as well. Unfortunately this is not the end of this economic slide. Good thing is St. Louis Bread continues to sell great coffee and expand into more neighborhoods in their hometown. I support spending money in St. Louis based companies who continue to provide more jobs for our friends and neighbors. And they have Free wifi too.
Too bad I am sad. I might have to go more than 2 blocks to get my overpriced overcooked, bad coffee.
Greedy hogs get eaten, and that clearly was the case with Starbucks.
@ support locals
“Good thing is St. Louis Bread continues to sell great coffee and expand into more neighborhoods in their hometown.”
I disagree. Breadco coffee is bland. And I ordered an espresso the other day and the young African Amer. girl behind the counter politely ridiculed my purchase: “I don’t know how anybody drinks this. It stink.” So much for being a place for coffee connoisseurs. Every time I go in there, at least one thing is wrong. At Starbucks, everything was always *right*.
Plus, with the lo-carb diet finally being vindicated yesterday as the best all-around diet, who wants all that bread? Watch for some breadcos to do a folderoo soon.