This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
STARBUCKS will close 61 Australian stores of its 85 outlets in the next few days, following in the footsteps of its United States parent company.
The closure will affect 685 jobs across the nation.
Earlier this month, Starbucks said it will close 600 stores in the next year and it expects to open fewer than 200 new stores over the next few years.
But the Australian arm of Starbucks did not elaborate on the costs of closing down the 61 stores.
The closure of the US stores was expected to cost between $US328 million to $US348 million.
Starbucks Australia’s store development manager Jason Ball, who will assume the role of managing director from September 01, said after evaluating several options to strengthen the business in Australia, the decision was made to concentrate its attention and resources on profitable growth and operational efficiencies.
“In January 2008, we developed strategies to transform the company for the future,” Starbucks’ founder Howard Schultz said.
“Now, we are well into the implementation phase of transforming Starbucks and we believe that this difficult, yet necessary, decision to close stores in Australia will help support the continued growth of our international business.”
“While this decision represents business challenges unique to the Australian market, it in no way reflects the strong state of Starbucks business in countries outside of the United States.
“There are no other international markets that need to be addressed in this manner,” Schultz continued.
The company said yesterday it plans to restructure its business in Australia and refocus on three core cities and surrounding areas: Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
Starbucks opened its first store in Australian in 2000 at Sydney’s Hyde Park. There are currently 84 Starbucks locations throughout the country, including Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast, Melbourne, South Australia, Sydney, and Tasmania.
Only 23 stores will remain open in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and surrounding areas.
Australian Property Journal
