Looks like more bad news for Starbucks as there will be plans to close majority of its underperforming stores in Australia. By August 3, 61 of its 84 stores will be closing as the coffee giant will try to focus on bigger cities which are Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

According to Schultz:

the decision to shut the stores reflected problems specific to the country and did not reflect "the strong state of Starbucks business in countries outside of the United States."

There are no other international markets that need to be addressed in this manner," he said. His statement reportedly followed a key telephone discussion between Starbucks executives in Australia and the United States.

Ed's Notes: More bad news for Starbucks but as a coffee lover, I just hope its just a "one step backward and a two steps forward" thing. I think they will recover since Howard Schultz is a visionary and he really knows the business. They just need to focus more and listen to the people and address their needs. They will be fine but the growth will be far from what they experienced before. This has been talked about a lot before, how about you? Do you think they will be fine or would just continue having problems?

Source: AFP