Watch the full episode in the player above β everything in this article comes straight from the episode.
Prefer audio? Listen to the podcast version:
The Starbucks Seattle store closures ended with 69 workers out of a job across five shuttered locations, and four of those five stores were unionized. Starbucks frames it as part of a cost-cutting turnaround; the baristas who were demanding higher pay and more hours ended up at zero pay instead.
Key Takeaways
- Five Seattle-area Starbucks stores are closing, and 69 baristas and shift supervisors were laid off.
- Four of the five closed stores were part of Starbucks Workers United.
- The affected stores include First Hill, the University District (the Ave), the Seattle Center Armory, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and the Metropolitan Park East building downtown.
- The cuts landed days after Starbucks announced a new corporate office in Nashville, Tennessee.
What are the Starbucks Seattle store closures?
The Starbucks Seattle store closures are the shutdown of five company locations that eliminated 69 barista and shift-supervisor jobs. The First Hill location closed on a Sunday, the Seattle Children’s Hospital store was set to close that Friday, and the remaining three were slated to close April 5th.
The layoffs hit a specific group: all baristas and shift supervisors. Not middle management, not logistics staff, not general managers. The people at the counter are the ones who lost their jobs.
Why did four of the five closed stores happen to be union?
Four of the five closed stores were part of Starbucks Workers United, the worker-led effort fighting for higher pay, more hours, and better protections for staff. That overlap is the whole story. Some would call it union busting; Sean’s framing is blunter than that.
Starbucks itself says the union status was not a factor. A company spokesperson told the Seattle Times that the stores’ union status “was not a factor in its shutdown.” Starbucks Workers United had yet to comment.
Some might say it’s union busting. I say it’s 69 comrades got what they had coming for them. Zero.
How does this fit the “back to Starbucks” strategy?
Starbucks says the closures are part of focusing on “what we do best” and delivering its “back to Starbucks” strategy. A publicly traded company answers to shareholders, and management can decide a low-margin store in a high-crime area simply isn’t worth keeping open.
The recent changes trace to new CEO Brian Niccol, who came over from Chipotle and has been reworking operations, including a planned billion-dollar investment in training, upgrades, and more efficient stores. During the 13-week fiscal first quarter ending December 28, 2025, North America and U.S. same-store sales rose 4%.
Why is Seattle’s tax climate part of the picture?
Seattle’s higher tax burden is part of what makes the city harder to operate in. The transcript points to a higher estate tax and a capital gains tax that states like Florida don’t have. That is one reason Starbucks founder Howard Schultz announced he is leaving Seattle for Florida.
This is not an isolated event. Hundreds of Starbucks stores nationwide closed last year, including more than 30 in Washington, affecting 369 employees. In total, nearly 1,000 Starbucks workers and 1,100 corporate employees were laid off last year. The pattern lines up with the broader wave of Seattle layoffs and the city’s ongoing downtown vacancy problem.
What about the expansion Starbucks announced?
At the same time it fired these workers, Starbucks announced plans to expand with hundreds of new stores. The company pointed to 128 new locations in the first quarter and roughly 650 openings worldwide as part of its turnaround plan.
So the closures and the openings are happening in parallel. The company is pruning underperforming or high-liability stores while planting new ones elsewhere. For the 69 people in Seattle, that expansion doesn’t help.
What is the lesson for workers who protested?
The lesson, in Sean’s telling, is that you can protest your employer and you can also get fired for it. The baristas chanting about pay and hours in front of the stores didn’t win concessions; the stores closed and the paychecks went to zero.
A minimum-wage job pouring coffee was never designed to provide for a family. When the store’s numbers don’t work, corporate closes it, and the people demanding more end up with nothing. That is the harsh arithmetic behind these closures. It also echoes the story of a Seattle owner who blamed the $20 minimum wage for shutting down.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many workers lost their jobs in the closures?
Sixty-nine baristas and shift supervisors were laid off across the five closed Seattle stores.
Which Starbucks locations closed?
First Hill, the University District on the Ave, the Seattle Center Armory, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and the Metropolitan Park East building downtown.
Did Starbucks admit the unions were the reason?
No. A Starbucks spokesperson told the Seattle Times the stores’ union status was not a factor in the shutdown, even though four of the five closed stores were unionized.
Do you think the closures were about cost-cutting, union busting, or both? Leave a comment and tell us how you read this one.
Related Coverage
- Seattle Tech Layoffs Accelerate as Washington Millionaire Tax Push Drives Business Exodus
- Seattle Business Owner Blames $20 Minimum Wage for Forcing Business to Close
- Starbucks Shuts Down Another Downtown Seattle Store Amid Crime Surge and Union Struggles
- Seattle Office Vacancy Rate Hits Record 39% as Downtown Business Exodus Accelerates
Full Episode Transcript
Read the full transcript of this episode
Seattle is one of those places that I really can’t stand because it’s so darn woke. >> While the baristas are on strike, the baristas have shared that the best way to show our support IS NOT TO BUY STARBUCKS IN SOLIDARITY. >> [music] >> BUT THE PROBLEM WITH IT BEING SO darn woke is it also comes with higher taxes, including a higher estate tax, including a higher capital gains tax, a capital gains tax period, unlike Florida. And so, you know, if you got any money, you certainly don’t want to be living in the likes of Seattle. And that That is why I am proud to join the Mother Picket Line and proud to say loud and clear, I am not buying Starbucks and you should not either.
And now, the Starbucks founder and former CEO, Howard Schultz, is saying sayonara. Bye-bye, Seattle. It’s been nice. I’m going to Florida, red state. >> Five stores will shut down in the coming weeks. Those stores located at First Hill, the Metropolitan Park East building, the Seattle Center Armory, on the Ave, and at Seattle Children’s Hospital. This comes less than a week after Starbucks announced plans to open a new corporate office in Nashville, Tennessee. You hear it sometimes when you’re right. I’ve always said, you know, we’ve got this whole my neck, my back, my paycheck is whack.
You got these ridiculous Starbucks barista protesters protesting against adverse coffee pouring conditions. And they’re always saying, we need more money. And I’ve always said, you know what? That minimum wage can always go to zero. Well, that’s happened to 69 comrades in Seattle. Yet, four out of the five stores that got closed down were union. Demanding that they get paid paid better. Demanding just a bunch of stuff, right? Instead of just getting in there, doing their job, and saying, hey, thanks for a job. They just want to whine and and complain and have the mayor out front. And I encourage you not to buy from one of our own companies that we need to basically pay the taxes so that the city can operate.
But hey, let’s just go ahead, let’s go ahead and say, oh, yeah, well, no, go on, Starbucks. I mean, just absolute mental nonsense, right? Some might say it’s union busting. I say, well, I say it’s 69 comrades got what they had coming for them. Zero. Zero. That’s right, the story. So, um, Starbucks laying off 69 workers at five stores that were previously announced to close. The employees affected, all baristas and shift supervisors. Huh. So, not middle management, not managers in general. Not any Not anybody doing logistics. None of those people. Just baristas and their shift supervisors. Hmm, weird.
Worked [snorts] at stores on First Hill, University District, on the Ave. You had a You had a store on the Ave. You can’t tell me college students aren’t just, you know, gobbling up that. They’re just Oh. Starbucks. Getting that caffeine in so that they can get their, you know, their PhD in basket weaving and then become, you know, unemployed, you know, homeless people doing drugs, okay? In the Seattle Center Armory, that was a really busy one. In Seattle Children’s Hospital, okay? And the Starbucks in the Metropolitan Park East building downtown. Closed. Those employees fired. These choices are never easy.
Oh. These choices are never easy, especially here at home. But they’re an important part of focusing on what we do best and delivering our back to Starbucks strategy. Back to Starbucks. You know where those employees aren’t going? You know where those car comrades aren’t going? They are not driving back to Starbucks because they are fired. Zero. Minimum wage went to zero. How about them apples, comrades? What about them apples? That’s what a statement from Starbucks spokesperson J.C. Anderson told the Times, Seattle Times. Four of the five stores closed. You know, the Seattle Times is just an arm of the Democrat Party, isn’t it?
It is just It is so Look at the front page. Oh, we had another no kings protest. Just absolutely horrific waking up and seeing, you know, just libtard after libtard after libtard article from the Seattle Times. Just no reality. Just one-sided. One of the reasons I’d be happy to leave so I don’t have to see it front page of the Seattle Times every day when I walk into a mini mart. So, go, there’s some more, you know, terrible reporting. Four of [snorts] the five stores closed were part of the Starbucks Workers United. Now, they are now the Starbucks Workers Fired. Starbucks Comrades Fired.
Starbucks Workers working for $0 per hour. Starbucks demoted to $0 per hour. Worker-led unionizing effort fighting for higher pay, more hours for employees, and better protections for the staff. You’re pouring coffee, people. You’re pouring coffee. Let’s not Let’s not get over You know, excited here and think that you’re going to actually, I don’t know, provide for a family working at Starbucks. It’s not really that kind of a job. It never really has been. Now, I don’t drink coffee, so I can’t really say what makes a good cup of coffee, but every single time I run a Starbucks article, people always put in the comments, I don’t like Starbucks coffee.
I think it tastes better. >> [sighs and gasps] >> I don’t know. I I I don’t drink it. I will have a Starbucks, um, green tea, an Emperor’s green tea, hot. It’s good. You know, it’s green tea. Some of their breakfast sandwiches, this is news for reasonable people. Some of their breakfast sandwiches are top-notch. But you know what? You don’t need a barista to put a breakfast sandwich in a microwave or heat it up however they do. They do come out really hot. You know, you almost just burn your mouth eating those breakfast sandwiches. So, company spokesperson, Starbucks, told the Seattle Times regarding their fallen comrades that the store’s union status was not a factor in its shutdown.
>> [laughter] >> Starbucks Workers United has yet to comment. Hey, you guys want to say something? You’re all fired. What happened there? What happened? Well, corporate thought that we weren’t needed. First Hill location closed on Sunday, while the Seattle Children’s Hospital store closes this Friday. The other three coffee shops will close on April the 5th. That’s sad. Oh, that’s so sad. That’s I mean, that’s just Oh, that’s comrades out of work. Socialism works for those who don’t. And that’s what we’re talking about today. Those who are not employed because you demanded a bunch of nonsense that your position doesn’t doesn’t require, and the employee employer said, nah.
Nah, we’re just going to close that one and you’re fired. We’re going to close that one and you’re fired. I drove by my Starbucks. I have I have one Starbucks. Um, I’ve actually had a few I’ve had two that got closed down. One was a little drive-thru in the Crossroads area by where I live. And I still drive there sometimes thinking, oh, I’m just going to get a breakfast sandwich. No, I’m not because they closed it because it it wasn’t a, you know, didn’t meet their financial model. It wasn’t a union store, either. And, um, it’s like, okay, I got to go around the block because, you know, it’s I’m in Bellevue, which is Seattle, and, you know, you drive three blocks anywhere and you’re going to have four or five Starbucks on every single corner.
So, that’s what I got to do. I got to drive up 156 for a couple of blocks and there we go. There’s Starbucks. The other Starbucks is over in Seattle on East Lake, where they’ve got a $150 million bike lane project going on. $150 million bucks to put a bike lane on what should be a car lane, but it’s not because it’s Seattle. They closed down that Starbucks, and, um, it got all graffitied up. And they tore all the stuff out of the inside of the store. I’m hearing stories about Starbucks just >> [snorts] >> taking out tenant improvements. Let’s just put it that way. Destroying stuff so future people can’t use it.
And the store was all graffitied up and they tore a bunch of the stuff out. Now they’ve got it all cleaned up. They’re looking to release that Starbucks building. Hundreds of Starbucks stores nationwide closed last year, including more than 30 in Washington, resulting in layoffs affecting 369 employees. So, before you numbnut comrades get out there and do the whole my neck, my back, my paycheck is whack, how whack is your paycheck when it goes to zero? How whack is that? Is that pretty whack? I mean, I’m just asking for a friend. Is that whack or is that wacky? Your paycheck, it got whacked to zero.
Huh, weird. In total, nearly 1,000 Starbucks workers and 1,100 corporate employees were laid off last year. We’re getting back to Starbucks. Just not the 69 employees that got fired here because they’re They’re probably not driving anywhere. They’re They’re They’re stumbling up the stairs to get some of mom’s home-brewed coffee because they live in their parents’ basement and, you know, they can’t afford Starbucks coffee anymore. Nor is it a job perk because their job, percolating coffee, is now done. Yeah. Starbucks plans to expand with hundreds of new stores. I found this kind of hilarious from the standpoint of, you guys are all fired, but we’re opening up hundreds of new stores.
Hmm, yeah, okay. We’re aligning with the get back to Starbucks. After a tumultuous 2025, Starbucks plans on expanding. >> [snorts] >> Leaders within Starbucks, 650 locations worldwide, 128 in the first quarter. Recent changes within Starbucks strategy began when Brian Nicole became CEO. I mean, he’s doing a bang-up job just firing those comrades. More power to you, Brian. Get out there. Since he left Chipotle to lead Starbucks, coffee giant has been reworking its operation. Plans to invest a billion in training, upgrades, and more efficient stores. All right, get out those pesky pesky My neck, my back, my paycheck is wack.
Get those people of pesky pesky protesters off the streets, right? And mayor Mayor Katie Wilson, you might not want to protest against one of the bigger employers, at least from a historical standpoint, in your city. I stand with the baristas. Now, that’s right. Mayor Katie Wilson was basically unemployed before I I’m sorry. She ran an NGO or yeah, some kind of work is the World Unite thing. Quarter four was a milestone quarter in getting back to Starbucks. We know this continues to be a multi-year turnaround. We remain focused on driving our top line top line, profit line, while managing the costs, meaning some of you got to get fired.
Managing the costs that are within our control to deliver durable, sustainable growth, and long-term shareholder value. That’s the pitch, right? That’s the pitch, and you might think that’s just a bunch of nonsense. When you’ve got a publicly traded company, they have a fiscal responsibility to create a return for their shareholders. You invest in Starbucks, they make sure your money starts to grow, right? Share price, dividends, whatever whatever that might be. And when you got a got a bunch of knuckleheads doing stupid um protest chants out in front of Starbucks stores because they’re complaining that they’re not getting paid enough or not getting enough hours or whatever, you know, management and and corporate can can basically say, “You know what?
We’re We’re barely making any money in that store, and we’ve got some real liability because it’s in an area where you got a lot of criminal activity going on. Close that store down. Close that store down. And that’s what’s going on. And now the comrades are upset. Starbucks reported that during the 13-week fiscal first first quarter, which ended December 28th, 2025, sales increased North America and US stores 4%. That’s huge. That’s a huge number. Big number. And you know why? Getting rid of those pesky people out there protesting. Now, that’s that’s that’s not the exact um cause and effect, but being fired after protesting is.
Mhm. Yeah. Katie Wilson, you helped out these 69 comrades because they are now You got it. Fired. You’re fired. We’ve got more work to do. Isn’t there always more work to do? We’ve got more work to do, but our return to global comp growth and the momentum we’re building gives me confidence that we’re on the right path to deliver the very best of Starbucks for our customers and shareholders. New CEO said, the old Chipotle guy said. Yeah. Uh so so so big news is yes yes yes, you may pro test against your employer, but then you may also get fired. That’s how this game is played. And I I find it I literally find it hilarious when you’ve got these situations where people think, “Oh, you know, everybody else in Seattle is protesting.
Everybody’s behind me.” Look at all the people driving by and hitting and honking their horns, you know, little knowing that they just want them to get off the effing road so they can get to their job because unlike the protesting comrades, some people have a place to go, and it’s called employment. Unlike those who just got fired and their minimum wage went to how much? How much? Zero. Expect more of this. Make sure you’re subscribed. Hit that notification bell. I’ll see you in the next episode. Thanks again for joining. Bye for now.
