Utica Road location opened in 2007

By Heidi Roman
C & G Staff Writer

FRASER — Though it’s only been open a year and a half, Fraser’s Starbucks Coffee store is one of two in Macomb County to be axed after the company announced a restructuring plan last month.

Starbucks Coffee Co. said it would close 600 underperforming stores across the United States to improve business and “reignite the emotional attachment” with customers. About 6,600 stores in the country will remain open under the plan, but the Fraser store will not be so lucky.

The drive-through store at Utica Road and Groesbeck Highway opened in March of 2007. It’s located in the Shepherds Corner Plaza adjacent to a Mobile 1 store and a Wow! gas station. A total of 18 stores in Michigan will close, the company announced.

In Macomb County, the company announced it will close the Eastpointe store in the 22000 block of Gratiot Avenue in addition to the Fraser store. A store on Main Street in Rochester is closing, as well as three Detroit locations.

Starbucks Coffee Co. Chief Executive Howard Shultz said in an early July letter that it was a hard but necessary decision. He said poor real estate decisions, coupled with a troubled economy, convinced the company that the stores would never reach acceptable levels of profitability.

Even some die-hard Starbucks fans have argued that the once-charming coffee shops have infiltrated the market with shops on every corner. That’s how two recent Fraser High School graduates feel, saying the news that the Fraser location is closing wasn’t a big shock to them.

“I think there are too many (Starbucks stores) anyways,” said Alison Krenz, 18, who graduated from high school this year.

“There will be others,” agreed friend Jerrica Pitts, also a recent FHS grad.

Soon they’ll be forced to find a new coffee locale, since sipping iced coffee on the store’s patio has become a hot weather tradition for the girls. They visit the Fraser Starbucks at least once a week, they said.

“I go to others, but most often this one because I live so close,” Pitts said.

At the Mobile 1 store next door, employees said they weren’t surprised to hear the news either. They said the neighboring coffee store isn’t nearly as busy as they would’ve expected it to be.

According to Starbucks Coffee Co., executive teams chose stores that were not profitable and which the company projected wouldn’t improve much in the future. But it wasn’t just a strict financial decision, Starbucks spokesperson Mike Lenda said.

“Much thought and consideration was given to each decision,” Lenda said. “In some cases, there may have been a variety of factors that when combined resulted in selecting one store versus another in a given area.”

On average, each Starbucks location staffs about 20 full-time and part-time employees. Some of the employees at the closing stores will be placed into available positions at other stores nearby, according to Lenda. Others will be offered a severance payment to aid in their transition, he said.

Nearby, two stores will remain open in Roseville, at 12 Mile Road and Gratiot Avenue and on Gratiot Avenue south of Masonic Boulevard. Customers will also be able to go to the Sterling Heights store at Van Dyke Avenue and 16 Mile Road.

The company cannot confirm a closing date for the Fraser location, but all of the closings will be staggered over the months before March 2009.

Starbucks Coffee Company was established in 1971, and today has stores across the world.

A full list of store closures is available at www.starbucks.com under the “About Us” section, including an updated list of closing dates as they are announced.

Staff Writer Jennifer S. McDonald contributed to this report.