Starbucks to shut majority of its Australian stores!
AUSTRALIA - July 29, 2008 - Iconic
U.S. coffee chain Starbucks said Tuesday it would shut most of its Australian
stores within a week, having already taken the axe to hundreds of U.S. outlets
as an economic downturn bites.
The company said it would shut 61 "underperforming" stores from a total of 84 in Australia because it was refocusing to concentrate on the major cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and surrounding areas.
"This decision will result in the closure of 61 underperforming locations throughout the country by August 3," it said without detailing how many jobs would be lost, although media reports put the figure at 685.
Starbucks said earlier in July that it would shut 600 U.S. stores in a move widely taken to reflect the slowdown in the world's biggest economy, where high fuel prices and a credit crunch are forcing consumers to tighten their belts.
The giant coffee chain's chairman Howard Schultz said the firm had developed a transformation plan in January that had led to the "difficult but necessary" decision to close stores in Australia.
Schultz said in a statement that the decision to shut the stores reflected problems specific to the country and did not reflect "the strong state of Starbucks business in countries outside of the United States."
