Just four months after announcing it was pumping the brakes, Starbucks is back to ramping up its footprint with an aggressive expansion plan.
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The coffee giant plans to open 2,100 net new stores in the United States and China in the 2019 fiscal year, UPI reports. The new growth plan is driven by a strong quarter, the results of which the company released on Thursday.
Starbucks reported an increase of consolidated net revenues by 11% in its fiscal fourth quarter (which ended Sept. 30) to a record of $6.3B, driven by worldwide same-store sales rising 3%. Same-store sales rose 4% in the U.S. and 1% in China, growth that Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said he would be chasing with the 2019 expansion plan.
The net new store number will be affected by the 150 underperforming locations Starbucks will close in the 2019 fiscal year, as it announced in June. A central similarity between the closing stores is redundancy with other locations, or unnecessary franchise locations in places such as grocery stores. Johnson did not specify if the 2,100 new stores would have a specific focus or form.
During the fourth quarter, Starbucks expanded to its 78th market with the opening of a Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Milan, Italy. According to the earnings report, it is the first time Starbucks has entered a market by leading with its high-end format.
UPDATE, NOV. 5, 10 A.M. ET: This article has been updated to clarify that Starbucks' fiscal year and fourth quarter ended on Sept. 30.
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