Tri-Cities loses one of its nearly 20 Starbucks as coffee giant retrenches

Starbucks Coffee Co. has closed one of its nearly 20 Tri-Cities locations amid a companywide effort to shutter hundreds of underperforming stores and lay off 900 workers.

The location at 6607 W. Canal Drive in Kennewick was one of about 25 Washington stores targeted for closure by Sept. 27, according to a list compiled by USA Today based on the company’s store locator site.

The store was closed by Monday morning and almost all signs had been removed.

The Canal Street Starbucks celebrated its grand opening on Oct. 1, 2007 with samples, free tall beverages and 21 employees.

There are 18 other freestanding and in-store Starbucks locations in the Tri-Cities, including one at 1659 N. Columbia Center Blvd., at Canal, near the closed location.

In a Sept. 25 message to employees, CEO Brian Niccol said the company would work to offer affected employees a chance to transfer to nearby locations.

Starbucks expects to end its fiscal year with 18,300 locations in the U.S. and Canada or 1% fewer than a year ago.