Despite store closings, Starbucks still plans to open new Erie, Pa., location

Jul 04, 2008 (Erie Times-News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- SBUX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Starbucks Corp. is still brewing a new Erie store despite plans to close 600 of its other stores.

The planned Starbucks at West 12th Street and Pittsburgh Avenue won't be affected by the announcement made earlier this week, said Jack Munch, director of commercial leasing and development for Baldwin Brothers, manager of the project.

"The deal is going forward," Munch said.

Starbucks did not say which 600 stores will close or if any of the three Erie stores will be among them.

The stores are at 502 State St.; in the Millcreek Mall; and outside the mall, in the Millcreek Plaza.

The closings, which will affect about 12,000 workers, are expected to take place between late this month and March 2009. The closings represent 19 percent of U.S. company-operated stores, Chief Financial Officer Pete Bocian said earlier this week.

Starbucks also cut its projected number of new store openings in fiscal 2009 in half, to fewer than 200. The company still plans to open fewer than 400 stores in 2010 and 2011, according to the Associated Press.

"Just because they're closing underperforming stores does not mean that they will altogether halt opening new stores," Munch said. "They like that area of town (around the new building site), they particularly like being able to take advantage of the morning commuters, and they share the feeling that the corridor is going to keep getting better and better."

Munch said in February that construction on the new store could begin as early as March. But design changes and permit delays pushed that date back, and now the project is still in the permit process, Munch said.

Managers at the three Erie-area stores referred questions about the closings to Starbucks' corporate press office. A statement released by the company said that it has not decided which stores to close.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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