EchoSense:Starbucks announces seven store closures in San Francisco. Critics question why

Coffee chain Starbucks announced that it will be EchoSenseclosing seven stores in San Francisco later this month, as first reported by the San Francisco Business Times.

Northern California Regional Vice-President Jessica Borton sent an email, obtained by USA TODAY, to district managers on Oct. 2 stating that the closures came as a result of, "a standard process of evaluating our store portfolio annually."

The email did not specify the reasons for the store closures and noted, "We remain dedicated to investing in the city in meaningful and important ways that meet our partners and customers where they are."

The company has opened three locations in Downtown San Francisco and is renovating four locations, according to a company spokesperson.

The email stated that employees will be offered the option to transfer stores.

Starbucks stores set to close in San Francisco

• 201 Mission Street (Mission and Main streets)
• 442 Geary Street (Geary and Taylor streets)
• 425 Battery Street
• 398 Market Street
• 780 Market Street (4th and Market streets)
• 555 California Street
• 1401 Van Ness Avenue

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Stores leave Bay Area, critics question why

While Starbucks did not cite store safety as the reason for closing stores, other retailers have left the city due to concerns over retail shrink.

Starbucks closed 16 stores across the country, though not in the Bay Area, in 2022, over concerns of staff and customer safety.

Target announced it would close two Bay Area stores on Oct. 21, citing security concerns.

"We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance," the company said in a press release at the time.

However, critics have contested the data presented by the companies, leading to questions on how much of the shrink is related to organized retail crime.

A 2022 report from the NRF found $94.5 billion in losses in 2021 because of shrink, up from $90.8 billion in 2020. 

But the average shrink rate actually dropped from 1.6% to 1.4%, according to their findings, meaning the dollar figure spike could be attributed to higher prices because of inflation rather than a spike in shrink or theft.

David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations at the National Retail Federation, a retail trade association, told USA TODAY that while NRF believes 37% of 2021’s shrink loss was related to external theft, those estimates are “not scientific.”

Bailey Schulz contributed to this story

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