It may be a little harder to find a nearby Starbucks in the coming weeks as the seemingly ubiquitous coffee chain is set to close hundreds of stores across the U.S., including an undisclosed number in the Chicago area.
Notice of the store closings, casualties of the company’s Back to Starbucks restructuring plan, began appearing this week, with signs posted in the windows of the shuttering locations.
“We’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to close this Starbucks location,” the sign on the Glencoe store has read since Thursday morning. “We know this may be hard to hear – because this isn’t just any store. It’s your coffeehouse.”
Similar epitaphs are popping up at locations across the city and suburbs. Starbucks did not respond to a request for a list of specific store closings.