Closing date uncertain at Market Place Mall Starbucks
The Starbucks Coffee inside Market Place Mall, seen here on Sunday, is facing closure as one of the hundreds of stores being shut down by the coffee chain in the wake of falling profits. Susan Kantor
July 22, 2008
Employees at a local Starbucks have found themselves in the middle of a waiting game while the exact date of the store’s closing is decided.
The Starbucks franchise located at Market Place Mall in Champaign was among approximately 600 nationwide closings announced by the coffee giant on July 1.
Staff will receive an e-mail giving them 30 days notice of the store’s closure, a message that could be sent anytime within the next six months.
“We’re waiting every day for the e-mail,” one employee said. Due to company policy, employees were not able to provide any further details on the closing.
Customers Jim and Laurie O’Brien and estimated they visit the Starbucks twice a month and were surprised to hear of its impending closure.
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“I know the mall charges ridiculously high rates,” Jim O’Brien said. “So no matter how busy they are, I’m sure it hurts the bottom line being at this location.”
The self-proclaimed “coffee connoisseurs” frequent Starbucks because they “like the coffee a lot.”
Once the location closes its doors for good, Jim O’Brien quickly produced a solution to where they will buy coffee on their trips to the mall.
“Hit the Starbucks that’s a mile way. Stop there on the way in,” O’Brien said.
