4 Edmonton Starbucks locations shut down amid North American closures

Four Starbucks locations, in Sunwapta, in Orchards, on 111 Street and Ellerslie Road and on 99 Street and 43 Avenue, are among the hundreds being closed.

Hundreds of Starbucks locations in North America were closed over the weekend, including four in Edmonton.

The new Sunwapta location in west Edmonton had a sign on the door Monday morning, which read, in part:

“We’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to close this Starbucks location.”

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Three other stores no longer listed on the company’s Store Locator are on 99 Street and 34 Avenue, The Orchards and James Mowatt Trail and Ellerslie Road.

Starbucks is laying off around 900 non-retail employees as part of the store closures to focus more of its resources on a turnaround.

A review of the affected locations revealed they’re falling short of financial performance targets, according to a letter sent by Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol last week.

“Each year, we open and close coffeehouses for a variety of reasons, from financial performance to lease expirations,” Niccol wrote.

The company expects to end its fiscal year with 18,300 stores in North America, down 124 from last year.

Starbucks said it will offer severance and support packages to the affected employees.

With files from The Associated Press