Starbucks is struggling, PEOPLE POWERED BOYCOTTS WORK!

I always knew Starbucks had been struggling for the past couple of years, but it’s looking horrible now. Way worse than anyone could’ve imagined. We’re talking 2008 crash bad.

VIA Greenpeace

They announced today that they are closing stores nationwide, laying off approximately 900 corporate employees, and implementing a restructuring plan that will result in a $1 billion cost. Not to mention that this is also their second round of layoffs, following the earlier dismissal of 1,100 corporate workers this year.

The percentage of company-operated stores in North America is expected to decrease by 1% this fiscal year, according to their SEC filing. That means more than 100 of their cafes will close their doors as part of this restructuring plan.

Altogether, Starbucks expects to spend approximately $150 million in employee separation costs, in addition to about $850 million in restructuring charges related to store closures. In their filing, they stated that they are prioritizing being “closer to the customer” in attempts to reverse the trend.

Starbucks has already laid off 1,100 corporate workers earlier this year. Earlier in July, they announced their most significant investment ever in labor and operating standards, dubbed the “Green Apron Service,” spending more than $500 million on labor hours across company-owned cafes over the next year.

Although the original push to boycott Starbucks began after October 7, 2023, when the company announced its intention to sue its union for supporting the people of Gaza, organizers had been attempting to boycott Starbucks for some time due to a series of alleged misconduct.

Starbucks has been accused of union-busting against Starbucks Workers United. They’ve also received numerous reports of understaffing, increased workloads, and general employee dissatisfaction. They had an internal memo leak that stated employees are not allowed to wear BLM pins because they could be “misunderstood and potentially incite violence”. The list goes on and on.

What we are witnessing isn’t a poor spell for Starbucks; it’s a reckoning.

Generations of public outcry, labor battles, and politicized missteps are now converging atop actual financial distress. The company’s attempts to restructure and trim expenses can prop up the bottom line in the near term. Still, without addressing the underlying issues, such as employee treatment and consumer trust, these measures may only delay the inevitable further along. Starbucks is not only losing revenue, but it’s losing brand loyalty and the cultural cool it had established.

And once that’s gone, no matter how much cost-cutting, it won’t come back.