Harvard Square-goers will notice something different as they visit the popular local attraction: There is no longer a Starbucks.
In a Sept. 25 statement, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol announced hundreds of nationwide store closures and the elimination of approximately 900 non-retail employees as part of his “Back to Starbucks” strategy from when he first took on the CEO position.
The coffee shop at 1 JFK St., which had replaced the world’s only Curious George store in 2022, was one of the closures.
“Our goal is for every coffeehouse to deliver a warm and welcoming space with a great atmosphere and a seat for every occasion,” he wrote.
As part of the plan, Starbucks reviewed its North America locations.
“We identified coffeehouses where we’re unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners expect or where we don’t see a path to financial performance, and these locations will be closed,” Mr. Niccol wrote.
In addition to the one in Harvard Square, around 20 stores in the Greater Boston area have also closed. The closures have shaken up students’ routines.
“When I don’t take the school bus, I take the train, so it’s really easy for me to hop over to Starbucks in Harvard Square and grab coffee,” Lucia Abraham ’28 said.
Now that she can no longer go to Starbucks in person, she relies on delivery apps to get her drinks.
“I DoorDash before school,” Lucia said. “I get here early, so I drink coffee every morning. It’s inconvenient, and there isn’t really one close, so it adds time to my morning. I have been drinking less coffee, which is probably good for me.”
Lucia has switched to other coffee shops.
“I’m an avid Starbucks user and drinker, but I sometimes go to Dunkin’. I’m definitely drinking more Dunkin’ than I was before.”
For Charlotte Rubins ’26, the closure of the Starbucks store by her house has been inconvenient, she said.
“I’m home alone a lot in the mornings, and I make my own coffee, but sometimes, if I just want to get a nice little pumpkin spice chai or something other than coffee, it gets a little annoying.”
Before, she could make a short seven-minute journey to her nearby Starbucks to pick up food and drinks. Now, the closest Starbucks takes about double the time, Charlotte said.
“If I didn’t have time to make food or anything in the mornings, I could just go down the street. I used to be able to go in the rain or cold because it’s so close to my house.”
Hannah Rosado ’26 stopped visiting Starbucks before the closures.
“I went every now and then,” she said. “It was nice to get a refresher before. If I had a free block, I’d go, or before hockey, but I wasn’t emotionally attached. My mom and I liked to go together.”
She started boycotting the coffee chain in April because of her political beliefs.
“That’s a tiny thing I can do. Evidently, if Starbucks is shutting down some of their less popular places, it’s doing something.”
When the store in Harvard Square closed, Hannah received 400 stars in Starbucks rewards.
“I forgot to delete my account when I started boycotting,” she said. “Then, one day, I got an email that said we’re shutting down the Starbucks in Harvard Square. At the bottom, it said you now have 400 reward stars. I don’t go there anymore. I can’t even use them anymore, so I think I’m just going to let them expire.”
Hannah said she and others at the school haven’t had trouble finding new spots for coffee.
“The people around me don’t really care about Starbucks at all. Anywhere there’s a Starbucks, there’s a Dunkin’ nearby, too.”
