Coffee shop among 15 statewide, 500 nationwide to shutter under new CEO’s restructuring plan
By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news
The drive-through and lobby of the Walker Avenue Starbucks in Ashland bustled during the lunch hour and into the afternoon on Friday, with customers of all ages picking up drink and food orders, many staying to dine inside.
On Sunday, the espresso machines at the only brick-and-mortar Starbucks location in Ashland will be quiet, as it is among more than 500 stores in the U.S. and Canada shuttering under a $1 billion restructuring plan recently announced by CEO Brian Niccol. Other store closures in Southern Oregon include the West Main Street and Delta Waters Road locations in Medford. Closures will mean layoffs for retail store workers, including more than a dozen at the Ashland location, plus another 900 employees at the corporate level.
A manager at the Ashland location who wished not to be named and who will transfer to another Southern Oregon location in coming days said that the store has more than one dozen part-time employees, all of whom are slated to find out next steps by Sunday, the end of Starbucks’ fiscal year.
The staff learned of the store closure on Thursday. Employees and customers alike on Friday shared their reaction to the loss of not only the store, but the community fostered in the space since it opened in 2020 at the former site of an Umpqua Bank branch.
“We’ve got a lot of regulars that we really like seeing every day,” the manager said. “That’s what we’re going to miss.”
Catherine and Doug Anderson sipped on their drinks in comfy chairs on Friday, Catherine with her usual venti lemonade and Doug with his usual tall Medium Roast Pike Place drip, served black like he likes it. Although the couple lives in Medford, Doug prefers to come to this location.
“This (place) is an everyday thing for him,” Catherine said.
Doug suffered an Ischemic stroke about a year and a half ago, which involves a blood clot blocking an artery in the brain. He used to visit the location by himself, but now Catherine, a Safeway employee who is currently on paid leave to care for her husband, accompanies him.
Doug often brings a thick Bible with him, and writes down verses of scripture that are meaningful for him. Catherine said the spiritual practice is also important for him to practice communication as a stroke survivor, and having a welcoming environment at the store helps, too.
The Ashland location is more than a coffee shop for the Andersons, who have been married 30 years.
Catherine noted the “friendliness” of the store sets it apart.
“They treated you like family,” she said. “That was really good for him, too.”
Another coffee shop she did not name was not so kind to her husband, and she noted that this location is a place where he felt welcomed and “wouldn’t get chased out” for staying too long.
“I’m going to miss these guys,” she said.
After sitting down, at least two employees walked over to greet the pair, including employee Pat Murphy, who embraced Doug.
Murphy has worked for the store for three and a half years, mostly in the drive-through.
The job has served as a semi-retirement and a reprieve from a 20-plus year career as a private investigator. He’s not sure what’s next, but knows he’ll miss customers and co-workers, some of whom have become family for him.
“One of the coworkers I used to work with adopted me as her dad,” Murphy said, noting he considers her a daughter and her child a grandchild. “She’s not here now, she used to work here.”
Regular Crystal M., who works in Ashland and only wanted to be known by her last initial, greeted Murphy during the interview and told him she planned to come in on Saturday.
“I’m so glad I got to see you today,” she told Murphy. “There’s so many people I’m not going to see.”
“You take care of yourself, OK?” he said.
With a venti iced black tea with pumpkin foam top in hand, Crystal lamented not only the closure, but the last-minute notice for workers and the community. She also expressed concern for the workers who have yet to hear what will happen next.
“Starbucks is doing a really huge disservice to these individuals,” she said.
“I’ve been coming here for multiple years and I know the people who work here and they work really hard, and the fact that they are losing their jobs within 48 hours is completely unethical and disgusting, and the only reason I’m ordering a drink here today is because I like the people that work here,” Crystal said.
Nearby, Drew Mackinnon noted that she was going to cry on Sunday when the store closed.
Catherine Anderson, who was seated nearby, agreed that she will have similar feelings when the store permanently shuts its doors at 7 p.m. Saturday.
A cashier at Dollar Tree, Mackinnon said she used to be homeless.
Now living in an apartment close to the Walker Avenue Starbucks location, Mackinnon walks to the location daily — not just for a caffeine fix, but for community, which she said she has found there.
“It’s basically part of my morning routine,” Mackinnon said.
Mackinnon said she’s especially fond of the venti iced white mocha that Starbucks makes.
“I consider it my special drink because it brings me so much comfort,” she said.
Mackinnon said she has autism and, for her, building social connections can be difficult.
“It’s become a part of the routine — not just getting the coffee, but seeing the staff here,” she said.
Mackinnon said she has made friends with a lot of the baristas and has bonded over the movie “Wicked” and video games.
“Sometimes I’ll get excited about coming into Starbucks, not just to get my coffee, but to … talk about things that we have in common. It’s definitely more than a coffee place. I get a lot of sense of community,” Mackinnon said. “I don’t really have a whole lot of friendships in my personal life so it’s nice to go to a place where people are happy to see you, and every time I walk in, the baristas recognize me and they know me by name.
“It’s a really good feeling,” she added. “There’s a lot I’m going to miss about this place.”
She finds solace in the routine of going to a “third place” beyond work and home.
“We’re losing third places left and right and Starbucks really is a great third place,” Mackinnon said.
Starbuck’s CEO Brian Niccol said Thursday that the company plans to close “underperforming locations, including those where the coffee chain is unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners expect,” according to CBS News.
It was not immediately clear how many of the stores that are closing are unionized, according to an Associated Press story, which said workers at 650 company-owned U.S. Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since 2021, but they have yet to reach a contract agreement with the company.
Workers at the Ashland coffee house voted 13 to 10 in favor of unionizing in an April 21, 2023, election, according to a Rogue Valley Times report. Workers at the Ashland Starbucks have demonstrated about union organizing and working conditions on at least two occasions, in May this year and in 2023.
The Starbucks kiosk in Safeway closed earlier this summer though it is unclear if the two closures are related.
As of Sunday, Sept. 28, the Starbucks location inside Albertsons in Tolman Creek Plaza will be the only open location in Ashland.
Hours will be 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday before the Ashland location is permanently closed.
Reach Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at [email protected].
Sept. 29: Added additional information about Starbucks unionization efforts.
