Would You Like That Iced?

By now, we're sure that everyone's heard the news about Starbucks' decision to shutter 600 stores nationwide.

Houston can expect to see a signifcant portion of that impact, as we are not only home to the world's first pair of side-by-side Starbucks (at West Gray and Shepherd), we also have a whopping 283 stores (although it seems like much more than just that at times) throughout the greater metropolitan area. These 283 stores are comprised of both freestanding Starbucks locations and "licensed" stores, such as the kiosks inside of Intercontinental Airport and your local grocery store. The Houston area accounts for about 4% of Starbucks' 7,100 cafes nationwide.

Following that math, if 600 store closures represents an 8.5% decrease in stores, and assuming the closures would be spread evenly across all markets (which won't likely be the case), that means that at least two dozen Starbucks locations could be closed in Houston. However, Houstonist was a liberal arts major, so don't quote us on the math part.

We sat down with a local Starbucks source, who asked to remain anonymous, and asked a few questions about the recent announcement. All store managers and zone/district managers throughout Houston were present on a conference call today in which the regional director discussed the upcoming closures. Roughly 70% of the soon-to-be-closed stores are new. These are stores that were built after 2006 which haven't yet paid for themselves and are simply too costly to operate -- they aren't contributing to the bottom line with their sales, they're only paying for their own overhead.

Of the 600 stores, 50 of the stores across the nation were told today that they were first onto the chopping block and would be shuttered by the end of the month. However, it's unclear if any of those 50 stores were in Houston. Our source estimated that between five and ten Houston locations would be affected by the closure. When asked to speculate which locations he thought were least profitable and most likely to close, our source guessed the new Chinatown location (Bellaire and Wilcrest) and a Galleria-area store at Richmond and Chimney Rock.

However, our source was quick to note that all stores to be shuttered will be in close proximity to other Starbucks locations for two reasons. One reason is that the stores were cannibalizing each others' business (as any rational person would expect). The other is so that the neighboring store can absorb the closed location's partners (i.e., employees) and customers. Moreover, our source also indicated that California and Florida were likely to be hit hardest with the closures, as their markets are currently oversaturated and in need of culling.

So here's a question for you: out of the potential locations, which Starbucks do you think should be closed down and why? Alternately, which Starbucks do you hope is spared the ignominy of closure?

Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Photo courtesy of flickr user mlsnp.