Starbucks Announces Full List of Closures

By: Diane Tuman, Zillow Content Manager | July 18, 2008

Earlier in the week, we posted about Starbucks’ store closures. Evidently, that list only had about 50 stores on it. Yesterday, Starbucks announced its full list of store closures.

See the full list of 600 stores closing in the U.S.

(Yikes! 7 stores in Seattle? Where’s the love, Howard?)

Why are we writing about coffee when Zillow is about real estate and homes for sale? Because there is a theory — the Starbucks Effect, it’s called, — in which home prices go up when Starbucks moves into the neighborhood. Rubbish, most say! But maybe they don’t have a Starbucks addiction — whether it’s the coffee or the overall Starbucks ambiance. Or, maybe they don’t value the fact that you can find a clean Starbucks bathroom any where in the world.

Either way, if I had a Starbucks in my neighborhood and it was closing down and there was no other choice, I would be bummed. It might even affect my Walk Score, which takes into account proximity to nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc. And, after all, neighborhood walkability is huge in my book.

Stumble it!
Categories: Real Estate

Comments

4 Comments so far

Starbucks Closure List on July 19, 2008 2:22 pm

There are also other businesses which are affected if a Starbuck store is closing nearby. Is this a sign for bad times to come?
Steve Simon on July 20, 2008 6:19 am

The Sign is that these times will not allow for a $5.00 cup of coffee at the same time a gallon of gas is going to cost you $5 as well!
The coffee can be given up, the gas cannot.
Anyone that doesn’t understand that this is just the begining of our economic woes has a very limited understanding of how an interlaced economy works. the US cannot withstand $5 a gallon gas; a lot of industry is going to crumble over the next 10 years…
Gary (aka Old Dude) on July 20, 2008 4:55 pm

Fads come, and fades go—and it would appear the fad of drinking fancy expensive (per cup at least)coffee is winding down—I remember when if ya didn’t have and could work a hula hoop you were out of it)—simultaneously with eh Starbucks deflation—we see the reality of the houseing market begin to return. When MY local starbucks outlet closes it’s door, I will know reality on housing prices has returned to MY neighborhood.—-now can we talk about the ridicoulus pursiite of flavored non-calorific waters?

Gary (aka Old dude)
http://threescoreplusten.blogspot.com/
Adam on July 22, 2008 7:36 am

While I’m not convinced that these closings will impact real estate prices at all, it is a troubling sign for the future of the economy. Especially, if one considers Starbucks an inferior good. (Because I don’t have enough money to go out for $6 Coronas, I’ll go out for $3 Starbucks coffee.) Hopefully, this is just a case of Starbucks expanding too fast.