On July 1st, Starbucks announced that it will be closing 600 stores. Most of the stores designated for closure are ones that opened in the past three years.

Starbucks has been expanding for the past two decades and in many cases bought out other chains resulting in stores located within blocks or even on the same block as each other. Consumers in San Francico and New York have been vocal about the urban blight created by a Starbucks on every corner. Performance artist and consumer rights activists Reverend Billy became so fed up with the proliferation of Starbucks outlets in New York City that he, along with his Choir of Stop Shopping, went to some of the worst offending locations where Starbucks are bunched up together and started performing exorcisms to make his point. He is now prohibited from entering Starbucks outlets by court order.

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The IWW Starbucks Workers Union has responded to the closures saying they are deeply troubled that management's numerous missteps are resulting in more serious hardships for baristas, bussers, and shift supervisors. Starbucks has a history of anti-union activity and the IWW held a global day of action against Starbucks on July 5th.

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