Starbucks Faces Biggest Drop In Popularity In Its Own Hometown, Seattle – CoffeeTalk

Starbucks has been struggling to retain customers and attract new ones due to higher prices, increased competition from smaller coffee shops, and a less pleasant customer experience. Between 2018 and 2024, Seattle had the biggest decline in popularity among the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, according to Nielsen survey data. In 2018, a projected 1.06 million adults in the Seattle metro area said they had patronized a Starbucks in the past 30 days. In 2024, the number for the Seattle metro had dropped to 840,000 customers, or around 26% of the adult population. Seattle only ranked fifth among the largest U.S. metro areas in 2024.

The decline from 35% to 26% of Seattle-area adults was the largest among the 50 most-populous metro areas. Las Vegas had the second-biggest decline in Starbucks patronage, falling from around 26% of adults in 2018 to 19% last year. Baltimore ranked third, with a decline from around 17% to 12%.

Among the 50 largest metros, 28 saw a decline in the popularity of Starbucks during this period, and 22 saw growth or were unchanged. Austin, Texas, led the way, increasing around five percentage points from around 19% to 24% of adults having visited the chain in the past 30 days. The Dallas and Grand Rapids, Mich., areas also had significant increases.

One development that has surely contributed to the chain’s declining numbers in Seattle is store closures. In 2022, Starbucks closed five Seattle stores, citing concerns over crime and the safety of its workers and customers. Last year, the chain closed two downtown stores, one near Pike Place Market and another at Fifth and Pike.

The closures in Seattle and other cities over the last few years have raised suspicions that Starbucks is illegally shutting down stores over unionization efforts. The chain’s anti-union stance is sometimes cited as another reason for its decline in popularity.

Read More @ The Columbian