Starbucks to Close Seven Cafes in Downtown San Francisco

Starbucks will cut seven caffeine outlets in Downtown San Francisco.

The Seattle-based coffeehouse chain will close the cafes in South of Market, Union Square, the Financial District and Cathedral Hill effective Oct. 22, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

Starbucks stores will close this month at 201 Mission Street, 442 Geary Street, 425 Battery Street, 398 and 780 Market Street, 555 California Street and 1401 Van Ness Avenue.

The company famous for its Frappuccinos and espresso jolts is the latest to close up shop in the city’s troubled Downtown. Other closures include Nordstrom, Whole Foods, Target and Walgreens. Peet’s Coffee closed “seven or eight stores” in Downtown during the pandemic, an executive told the newspaper.

Jessica Borton, Starbucks’ regional vice president for Northern California who calls herself a “change leader,” told employees that “several factors” went into the decision to close each store.

“Determining how and where we invest is done through a standard process of evaluating our store portfolio annually to determine where we can best meet our community and customers’ needs,” Borton wrote. “This year those discussions have resulted in making the very difficult decision to close seven of the stores in our area.”

She said Starbucks has opened or reopened three stores in San Francisco within the last six months and is investing $2.5 million to renovate four more stores.

After staying closed for more than three years during the pandemic, Starbucks last week re-opened its store at 333 Market Street in front of the Embarcadero BART station, changing it to a “grab-and-go” store without indoor seating, according to the Business Times.

The other two new or re-opened Starbucks are a store at 90 Charter Oak Avenue and at 462 Sutter Street.

There are now 59 Starbucks stores in San Francisco, not including those licensed to other operators, such as cafes inside Safeway or Target, the company said. The closures will result in 52 remaining Starbucks in San Francisco.

— Dana Bartholomew