BevBlog: Starbucks to close hundreds of stores

Starbucks – that company that stands at the curious intersection of coffee house, RTD brand and beverage retailer – will close 600 company-owned stores.

The company said most of those stores opened in the last two years, and the process will also mean the termination of 12,000 employees. But that doesn’t mean that beverage industry professionals should weep in their lattes.

While the company once helped build Jones Soda, its cooler has more recently featured Starbucks-branded products or products out of the Pepsi system. The closures also likely won’t affect Starbucks’ RTD business.

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