NEWS

ORTING LOSING STARBUCKS

By: Lyle Evansiano July 18, 2008

You could almost see the collective grimaces of city officials as yesterday Starbucks announced the closure of the Orting Depot location Starbucks at 211 Washington Avenue.

According to Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, "After an extensive and rigorous review of our U.S. company-operated store portfolio, our executive and field leadership team, which included Operations, Store Development and Finance, has decided to close approximately 600 underperforming company-operated stores in the U.S. market, which includes our previously announced plans to close 100 stores. "

Although the earlierer rumors around town listed the Safeway location to be cut, that is not true as the Safeway location is not a Starbucks owned location, but rather a private lease of the concept and will remain open.

No final closure dates have been announced, and the company said in a release Thursday that it has informed workers and management personnel at the affected stores about the closures.

For a look at the complete list, click here.