By Brandon Leuallen
Starbucks has closed its location at 2601 Dos Rios Drive in Grand Junction. A notice posted on the door tells customers the company made the decision to close the store this week.
“We know this may be hard to hear,” the notice says. It then describes the store as a place where customers made memories and connections with employees, whom Starbucks calls partners. The notice thanks customers for the community built there and says the company is working to support employees through the transition.
The notice does not give a reason for the closure or specify the store’s last day of business. It directs customers to other Starbucks locations. The Dos Rios store is one of seven Colorado locations identified in a report by Denver TV station Colorado 9 News about the nationwide closures.
Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams said Sept. 24 that the company planned to close about 250 coffeehouses across North America. He said the company identified stores where it could not consistently deliver the experience it wanted for customers and employees or did not see a path to acceptable financial performance. Starbucks has not said which concern applied to the Dos Rios store. The company said it will offer affected employees transfers where possible and severance support if it can not place them elsewhere.
The Starbucks store closure comes as the broader Dos Rios development has built out more slowly than the city anticipated. Grand Junction financed infrastructure for the project with debt expected to be repaid largely through tax revenue generated as the property developed. The city remains responsible for that debt and expects to pay about $1.03 million in Dos Rios development debt service in 2027, according to city budget information previously reported by The Business Times. The financial effect of the Starbucks closure on the development has not been established.
The Business Times will update this story as information becomes available, with further reporting in next week’s paper.
