Starbucks shutters hundreds of stores, including some in New Mexico

Albuquerque resident Stephen Cuomo was surprised when he learned that the Starbucks at the shopping center ABQ Uptown had closed.

“(I) would enjoy a cup of coffee at that location several times a week and would sometimes work at that location,” Cuomo said in an interview. “The staff was always friendly; it felt like a local coffee shop.”

The location is among four other Starbucks in New Mexico that have shuttered following the coffee chain’s announcement that it would close hundreds of locations across North America.

Three Albuquerque Starbucks stores, plus one location each in Santa Fe and Las Cruces, are among those affected. The locations shut down over the weekend, following Starbucks’ Thursday announcement of the planned closures.

The company did not provide a list of the stores that would close, but the Starbucks app and Google searches revealed which locations ceased operations over the weekend.

Closed locations no longer appeared on the app as of Monday. A Starbucks spokesperson didn’t respond to a Journal request for comment on whether any other locations have been or will be closed, instead referring back to the app for “up-to-date information.”

In an effort to “build toward a better Starbucks,” the company identified coffeehouse locations where it was “unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners expect, or where we don’t see a path to financial performance,” said CEO Brian Niccol through a letter posted on the company’s website.

The shuttered New Mexico locations join hundreds of others across North America. The closures brought the company’s count of Starbucks locations across the U.S. and Canada to nearly 18,300 at the end of its fiscal year 2025, which concluded on Sunday.

The figure — down from 18,734 locations in June, according to its most recent quarterly earnings release — amounts to a 1% decline for the company’s fiscal year 2025, taking into account both store closures and openings.

The company is cutting 900 non-retail jobs to shift more employees into its stores, the letter said.

It’s unknown how many employees have been affected by the New Mexico store closures, or if the layoffs impact any New Mexicans, but Niccol said the company will work to transfer affected employees to nearby locations where possible and provide “comprehensive severance packages” to those who can’t be placed.

“I know these decisions impact our partners and their families, and we did not make them lightly,” Niccol said in the letter. “I believe these steps are necessary to build a better, stronger, and more resilient Starbucks that deepens its impact on the world and creates more opportunities for our partners, suppliers, and the communities we serve.”

Niccol said Starbucks will grow its number of coffeehouses in its fiscal year 2026 and will “uplift more than 1,000 locations to introduce greater texture, warmth, and layered design” over the next 12 months.

Cuomo took to Facebook to express his disappointment over the closure of ABQ Uptown’s Starbucks, posting a photo of an iced drink he bought during the location’s last day on Saturday.

“It’s sad,” Cuomo said in his social media post. “I hope all of their amazing employees get relocated to other stores.”