EDMONDS — Starbucks has closed five stores in Snohomish County as part of what the company says is an initiative to close unprofitable stores or locations that don’t meet the company’s vision of desirable locations that create a positive coffeehouse experience.
In the last week, the company closed two locations in Lynnwood and one each in Edmonds, Mill Creek and Bothell.
The closures, part of a North American store reduction, come as Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is trying to reverse declining sales. The sales for stores open at least 13 months in the U.S. and Canada have declined for six straight financial quarters. In the last quarter that ended on July 29, sales were down 2% from the previous quarter.
Operating income for North America for the 13-week quarter was $918.7 million, down 36% from the previous quarter.
The shuttered Lynnwood locations were a drive-thru-only location at 19931 Highway 99 and another in the Fred Meyer supermarket shopping center at 2902 164th Street SW.
The Edmonds location that closed was at 21920 Highway 99 while the Mill Creek store was at 15517 Main Street in Mill Creek Town Center. The Bothell location was at 2020 Maltby Road.
The Edmonds location was dine-in or take-out only, but the Lynnwood location in the Fred Meyer shopping center and the locations in Mill Valley and Bothell were full-service and also offered a drive-thru.
Starbucks officials did not respond to requests for comment. However, the closed locations are no longer on the store locator on its website, and their phone calls were left unanswered.
Seattle-based Starbucks still has five locations in Lynnwood, five in Edmonds — which includes a location in Swedish Hospital and five in Bothell — including one in a QFC, the Starbucks website locator show.
But in Mill Creek, there is only one free-standing Starbucks left. The other two are in a QFC and a Fred Meyer supermarket.
Niccol announced in a letter to employees on September 25 that the company had conducted a review and that the number of North American stores would decline by about 1%.
“We identified coffeehouses where we’re unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners expect, or where we don’t see a path to financial performance, and these locations will be closed,” he said.
Niccol said that the approximate 1% reduction factors in numerous coffeehouses that have opened up in the past year, but he did not provide specifics on how many new locations.
He said Seattle-based Starbucks would have nearly 18,300 company-operated and licensed locations in the U.S. and Canada at the end of the company’s 2025 fiscal year on Sept. 28. The company reported in October 2024 that it had 18,424 locations in North America, 124 more than it has today.
None of the six locations in Everett are affected by the closures.
What is clear is that Starbucks acted quickly to remove its signage from the locations. The locations have no Starbucks identification, outdoor tables have been removed and the windows have been covered up.
But in a small, uncovered window opening at the Edmonds location, a chalkboard sign welcomes customers to “your Highway 99 Starbucks.”
Below, also written in chalk are the words, “Bye, Thank you, We will miss You.”
The chalkboards in Starbucks stores typically show drink promotions and are written by baristas.
Niccol, in the letter to employees, said the company would place as many workers as it could in other locations. He added that Starbucks will still be growing and that new locations will be added in fiscal 2026. He did not add specifics.
He also said that, over the next 12 months, “we also plan to uplift more than 1,000 locations to introduce greater texture, warmth, and layered design.”
In a filing with federal security regulators on Sept. 25, Starbucks stated that store closures and employee reductions would cost the company $1 billion. The filing said $450 million would go toward lease termination for the closed stores, $400 million for disposing of store assets and another $150 million would be for severance costs for employees, including 900 Starbucks non-retail employees that would be dismissed.
Randy Diamond: 425-339-3097; randy.diamond@heraldnet.com.
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