Starbucks Flop-a-chino Hits New Jersey

As I noted in an earlier story about Starbucks' business floundering, Ridgewood recently saw a new Starbucks open less than a mile from a more established store also in Ridgewood.

Well, that new store, along with many others, is going to be closed as part of Starbucks new plan.

The release was unexpected. Chief Executive Howard Schultz told employees last week that closures would be announced each month after employees receive 30-day closing notices. A store in Cherry Hill was among those in the first round.

The Jersey locations announced tonight are:

- 744 Broad St. Newark
- 80 S. White Horse Pike, Hammonton
- 10 Wilsey Square, Ridgewood
- 57 Route 23 South, Wayne
- 4364 Route 130 North, Willingboro

Starbucks has released a list of all 600 stores it plans to close by the end of March.

"In the spirit of transparency with our partners, customers and communities, we are providing the full list of stores for general information purposes," the company said in a release.

Closure dates for each store will be given after employees are told when their store is closing.

I'm sorry, but this was not unexpected. You could see the writing on the wall when the earlier reports came out that 600 stores would be closed. Sure, you might not have known precisely which stores, but I had a good guess that the Wilsey Square store would be closed - that's the one that opened less than a mile from the other store on Ridgewood area and about a mile from another branch in Midland Park.

Starbucks oversaturated the market, and paid with bad business decisions that hurt its bottom line. Starbucks might find its way back into Newark at some point, but I'd suggest that they spend more time coming up with a more flavorful product that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

UPDATE:
Here's the full list, and New York City also loses 10 stores too. That leaves just about 225 stores in the City. HT: Gothamist.