East Side Starbucks Closes, Again
Chain closes Lower East Side shop as part of 250-store downsizing.
Site of Lower East Side Starbucks, 1438 E. Brady St. Photo taken Sept. 11, 2024 by Sophie Bolich.
Closures come in all sizes. On Brady Street, neither neighborhood coffee shop nor mega chain is immune.
As Sweet Joy Brazilian Cafe, 1208 E. Brady St., winds down operations and sells off its equipment, a Starbucks just down the road, at 1438 E. Brady St., closed its doors over the weekend.
In a public letter dated Sept. 24, Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams announced the closure of 250 cafes across the nation, representing about 1% of 18,000 North American locations. The Lower East Side’s Brady Street location is one of three in Wisconsin that were shuttered.
“We have carefully reviewed our North America coffeehouse portfolio and identified locations where we do not believe we can consistently deliver the experience we want for customers and partners or where we don’t see a path to acceptable financial performance,” the letter read.
The Brady Street Starbucks closure comes after only two years of operating in the strip mall, which is owned by an affiliate of Illinois-based Newcastle Properties.
“Closing any coffeehouse is a difficult decision, and we know today’s news will be hard for the partners, customers and communities affected,” the letter continues.
Grams wrote that store employees will be offered transfer opportunities “wherever possible.” In Milwaukee, Starbucks locations on E. Mason Street, W. Wisconsin Avenue, E. Ogden Avenue, W. Kilbourn Avenue and N. Downer Avenue, among others, were spared from the sweeping corporate closures.
Starbucks baristas impacted by the closure took to Reddit to air their grievances.
“I just got a phone call from my manager and we’re closing Saturday. I’m so upset but I feel like this is for the better. I’m finally gonna be free from the siren. F**k Starbucks I’m never going back after Saturday,” wrote one anonymous poster on Thursday, Sept. 24.
Starbucks long operated a cafe across the street from its latest closure, but shuttered that cafe, 1677 N. Farwell Ave., in 2018.
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