Nine Philly Starbucks Will Be Closing
Coffee enthusiasts twitched yesterday when they heard that nine of 115 cafe’s in the Philadelphia area will be closing.
When one Starbucks goes down, there’s a new one right around the corner, so don’t worry.
A lot of people aren’t quite sure why Starbucks is having to close some of its stores, here’s the reason. The Seattle company that transformed coffee from a mud-slurping morning routine to a daily luxury indulgence is now closing a big batch of outlets to stem losses.
The reason why? Location.
Three of the nine stores on the Starbucks list in the Philadelphia region are on Route 611 in Montgomery and Bucks Counties, two within a mile in Willow Grove.
There’s so many around, it’s crazy though.
For example, in downtown Willow Grove, where Weinrich’s Bakery on route 611, there is a Starbucks across the street from him in a bookstore, one in a nearby mall and one in a supermarket.
Then, there are two more near the naval air station up the road. Don’t forget the two that are closing, on the 1100 and 2700 blocks of Route 611.
When a retailer opens too many stores in a geographic area, they run into the risk of “cannibalizing” their operations. That is, one store ends up eating into the sales of another.
There total number of Starbucks locations is listed at 600 stores. 70 percent of those stores have been open since 2006. Five of the nine closing in Philadelphia opened in 2006 or later.
Starbucks has become such a powerful part of people’s lives that the impending closures made headlines in cities nationwide yesterday.
An estimated of 180 area Starbucks employees will lose their jobs once the espresso machines are stored away.
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