Thursday, July 3, 2008

Will Target lose their Starbucks?


With Starbucks all over the news – announcing the closing of 600 stores, or about 8.5% of its 7,100 total outlets – it makes me wonder whether any of the closures will be those housed in Target stores? Late in 2002, Target and Starbucks announced the agreement to roll-out Starbucks coffee shops in all new (or newly remodeled) Target stores. That deal represented a significant expansion opportunity for Starbucks back when it was inked 6 years ago. I can’t find exact stats for how many Target stores contain a Starbucks outlet, but based on the fact that Target Corporation builds some 100-120 new retail stores every year, there could potentially be upwards of 500 Starbucks outlets connected to Target stores alone. The question is: are Target’s Starbucks among those slated to be shuttered?

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