With hundreds of Starbucks forced to close across the nation, the four State College Starbucks don't yet know their fate.
The popular coffee chain is still in the process of finalizing the specific locations to be closed, Starbucks said in a statement issued to The Daily Collegian yesterday, but 600 Starbucks stores are slated to close between this month and March 2009.
"Out of respect for our partners, and our desire to share this information with impacted partners first, we are not publishing a full list of the stores," the statement read.
The statement cited the store closures as necessary in addressing concerns such as "enhancing operating efficiency, improving customer satisfaction and ensuring long-term value."
"Today we announced a major step in our ongoing process to examine our business' effectiveness to ensure that it is driving profitability and that we are creating a sustainable business model," the statement read.
About 70 percent of the stores to be close opened during or after the 2006 fiscal year, according to the statement. The closing stores include the 100 stores targeted for closure in the company's previously announced plans, according to the company's Web site, www.starbucks.com.
The Starbucks at 141 S. Garner St. opened in March. Employees there declined to comment Wednesday about the status of that Starbucks store or their jobs.
The other downtown Starbucks, 232 W. College Ave., opened in October 2002, according to Collegian archives.
The other two Starbucks in State College are located at 2030 N. Atherton St. and 1965 Waddle Road.
Named after the first mate in Herman Melville's, Moby Dick, the chain was founded in 1971 in Seattle's Pike Place Market, according to Starbucks' Web site. Within the United States, there are 7,087 company-operated stores and 4,081 licensed stores, according to the company's Web site.
