The days of a Starbucks on every corner seem to be coming to an end. For years, Starbucks staked its reputation on its ability to expand relentlessly in cities and suburbs. Comedian Lewis Black even riffed in 2001 that the “end of the universe” was in Houston, Texas, where he found one Starbucks directly across the street from another. But both the universe – and Starbucks – have changed since then. More competition, inflation and consumer shifts have hurt Starbucks’ bottom line. Starbucks announced Thursday that it will close 1% of its stores in North America this month. The closures – and layoffs of 900 corporate employees – are part of a US$1 billion restructuring plan. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said the stores it will shut weren’t “what our customers and partners expect” or weren’t making money. Closing roughly 400 stores is like a rounding error for the coffee giant, which has more than 32,000 locations worldwide. And it still plans to open new stores next year. But the fact that Starbucks is shrinking right now represents something significant for its business. Starbucks’ closures were driven by consumers who moved away from urban centers during the COVID-19 pandemic, said RJ Hottovy, an analyst at Placer.ai, a firm that tracks foot traffic. The chain is now shedding leases in areas that have notably less business. Starbucks is also getting squeezed by independent coffee shops, growing chains like Blank Street Coffee and Blue Bottle, and drive-thru companies such as Dutch Bros. And customers have balked at the chain’s prices. More than 70% of people blamed higher prices for why they planned to visit Starbucks less over the next 12 months, a recent UBS survey of 1,600 consumers found. Starbucks’ turnaround has been “made more challenging by ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and the rapid expansion of drive-thru-focused competitors,” Hottovy said. Starbucks is attempting a comeback under Niccol after years of struggles, strategy missteps and a revolving door of CEOs. Starbucks’ sales at stores open for at least a year have dropped for six straight quarters. Its stock has dropped roughly 9% so far this year. Investors and analysts have a high view of Niccol, who previously revitalized Chipotle and Taco Bell. He took over at Starbucks in September 2024 and received nearly US$100 million in compensation last year. Niccol is trying to reposition Starbucks once again as a “third place” between home and work. The company had veered too much into mobile orders and it “took a lot of the soul” out of the brand, he said. Under Niccol, Starbucks has brought back its tradition of baristas doodling on cups in Sharpie pens; reinstated self-serve milk and sugar stations; cut 30% of the food and drink menu; ended its open-bathroom policy for non-paying customers; and laid off 1,100 corporate employees in February. 街頭巷尾隨處可見(jiàn)星巴克的日子，似乎正悄然走向終結(jié)。多年來(lái)，星巴克以其在城市與郊區(qū)瘋狂擴(kuò)張的能力聞名業(yè)界。喜劇演員劉易斯?布萊克2001年曾調(diào)侃：“宇宙的盡頭在得克薩斯州休斯頓 —— 我在那兒看到一家星巴克正對(duì)著另一家星巴克”，這番話生動(dòng)勾勒出其當(dāng)年 “遍地開(kāi)花” 的景象。 但自那時(shí)起，無(wú)論是市場(chǎng)環(huán)境還是星巴克自身，都已發(fā)生巨變。更激烈的行業(yè)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)、持續(xù)的通貨膨脹，以及消費(fèi)者習(xí)慣的悄然轉(zhuǎn)變，正侵蝕這家咖啡巨頭的利潤(rùn)底線。 上周四，星巴克正式宣布，將于月底前關(guān)閉北美地區(qū) 1% 的門(mén)店。此次關(guān)店，連同裁撤 900 名企業(yè)員工的舉措，均是其總規(guī)模達(dá) 10 億美元重組計(jì)劃的一部分。星巴克首席執(zhí)行官布萊恩?尼科爾解釋稱，即將關(guān)閉的門(mén)店，要么 “未能達(dá)到顧客與合作伙伴的期望”，要么長(zhǎng)期處于盈利困境。 對(duì)這家在全球擁有超 3.2 萬(wàn)家門(mén)店的企業(yè)而言，關(guān)閉約 400 家門(mén)店看似 “九牛一毛”，且公司仍計(jì)劃明年開(kāi)設(shè)新店。但此刻的收縮態(tài)勢(shì)，無(wú)疑折射出其業(yè)務(wù)面臨的深層問(wèn)題。 客流分析機(jī)構(gòu) Placer.ai 的分析師 RJ?霍托維指出，星巴克此次關(guān)店的核心原因之一，是新冠疫情期間消費(fèi)者大量搬離市中心，導(dǎo)致該區(qū)域部分門(mén)店客流銳減，而品牌正通過(guò)關(guān)閉這類租賃店面，優(yōu)化整體布局。 與此同時(shí)，星巴克還面臨著多方位的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)擠壓：一邊是獨(dú)立咖啡館的個(gè)性化沖擊，一邊是 Blank Street Coffee、Blue Bottle 等新興連鎖品牌的分流，此外，Dutch Bros 等主打駕車(chē)外帶模式的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手不斷搶占市場(chǎng)份額。 價(jià)格則成為另一重 “攔路虎”。瑞銀近期針對(duì) 1600 名消費(fèi)者的調(diào)查顯示，超過(guò) 70% 的受訪者表示，會(huì)因星巴克價(jià)格上漲而減少光顧頻率。 “宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)的持續(xù)不確定性，加上以駕車(chē)外帶為主的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手快速擴(kuò)張，讓星巴克的轉(zhuǎn)型之路面臨更大挑戰(zhàn)?！?霍托維說(shuō)。 事實(shí)上，在經(jīng)歷多年的業(yè)務(wù)掙扎、戰(zhàn)略失誤與 CEO 頻繁更迭后，星巴克正試圖在尼科爾的帶領(lǐng)下重振旗鼓。開(kāi)業(yè)一年以上的星巴克門(mén)店銷(xiāo)售額已連續(xù)六個(gè)季度下滑，其股價(jià)今年以來(lái)也下跌約9%。 投資者與分析師對(duì)尼科爾抱有期待 —— 畢竟，他曾成功重塑 Chipotle 與塔可鐘兩大連鎖品牌。2024 年 9 月，尼科爾正式接手星巴克，僅去年一年便獲得近1億美元薪酬。 上任后，尼科爾推動(dòng)星巴克重新定位 “第三空間”（即家與工作場(chǎng)所之外的社交場(chǎng)景）。他直言，公司此前過(guò)度側(cè)重手機(jī)訂單，導(dǎo)致品牌 “失去了許多靈魂特質(zhì)”。 在這一戰(zhàn)略下，星巴克推出多項(xiàng)調(diào)整舉措：恢復(fù)咖啡師用馬克筆在杯上手繪圖案的傳統(tǒng)，重新設(shè)立自助奶糖站，精簡(jiǎn) 30% 的餐食飲品菜單，禁止非付費(fèi)顧客使用衛(wèi)生間；今年 2 月，還曾裁撤 1100 名員工，進(jìn)一步優(yōu)化人員結(jié)構(gòu)。(Translated by DeepSeek) | 