Why Starbucks Is Really Shutting Down Stores in New York

LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i 

WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:

https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured  

 Dozens of Starbucks locations are closing across New York City—and the media won’t tell you the real reason. In this episode:

• Why skyrocketing coffee prices (thanks to tariffs) are crushing Starbucks’ bottom line
• How unionized workers and greedy landlords add to the cost spiral
• Why businesses walk away from packed, profitable locations when the numbers don’t work
• The truth about government interference and how it destroys the free market

 Starbucks isn’t just downsizing—it’s a warning sign of what happens when costs outpace reality and the government keeps piling on.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Oh, Starbucks is shut down stores. You want to know why, Well,
we'll get into it here. Okay, this is out of
New York because they're having a collective freak out in
New York City right now. Yeah, they actually just put
I mean, I can't even believe this. This is odd.
This is something that usually happens when a company goes bankrupt.

(00:36):
They just shut the store down, put a sign in
the window saying we're closed. Yeah, dozens of stores across
New York City and in high profile locations. All the
landlords what are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?
And city officials, Oh my god, you've got to make
sure you follow the rules, and your employees have got

(00:57):
to go find somewhere else to go. Now you think
it's because of foot traffic. Yeah, No, I don't think
it's stupid foot traffic. We talk about minimum wage in
New York. Part of it, that's a part of it.
We really want to know why Starbucks is cutting back.

(01:23):
Have you taken a look at the price coffee? Yeah, yeah,
we have. These things are called tariffs. You might have
heard them. I heard about tariffs. And we don't grow
a hell of a lot of coffee here in the
United States, not to mention the fact that probably wouldn't

(01:43):
be very good. You need a certain type of climate
for coffee, and yeah, not here. Let's just leave it
at that. So anyway, you're a store called Starbucks and
one of your guess input costs is coffee. You can

(02:03):
can't run a coffee shop without bloody coffee. For crying
out loud, we all know this, right, and those prices
just went through the roof. Now again, I'm gonna explain
this in terms of business. People just don't understand.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
There comes a point in time where you say to yourself,
is this worth it anymore? Is this worth it? Is
it worth the effort having this business? Is it worth
the effort having this store. You take a look when
you're analyzing any business and you see what your costs

(02:39):
are going to be. Now again, big hit as well,
big hit as well in New York City. I don't
even know some of these stores. They may actually be
unionized Starbucks workers. For all I know, that's a major cost. Okay,
it's not nearly as high as their coffee costs. And

(02:59):
when and that goes to a certain point and you
take a look at the numbers and you say, it
ain't worth it anymore. It ain't worth it anymore. It's
not worth it to have this store anymore. And the
funny thing is them walking away from these leases. They
start to pay the lease. That's how hard they are

(03:21):
getting hit with these higher input costs that they are
willing to continue to pay their lease and just shut
the store down. That's how much they're losing. The numbers
don't work anymore. I explain this to people sometimes and
they don't get it, Like I don't understand. There was
a restaurant. This just happened in New York for a lot.

(03:44):
There's a restaurant on Second Avenue. Man, it was packed
all the time. It's shut down. I don't get it.
You don't get it. The lease is up, the lease
is up, and the landlord got greedy. The landlord said, well,
you know what you're doing real well, I'm going to
jack it up to a certain point in time, the
owner of the restaurant says, you know what, Nah, Noah,

(04:05):
I can't pass these costs on down to my customers.
They're not going to pay them. I'm not gonna raise
my prices that much, even if I'm making still making
money at the restaurant. Is it worth the effort? No,
So they shut down and maybe they move somewhere else.
That's the reality. How much Starbucks coffee is expensive already.

(04:29):
What are they gonna start charging ten bucks a cotton
ten much? Actually that's probably a neat idea is if
they say, hey, you know what, you know, these tariffs
were gonna have to they put a little tariff costs
on the thing. And then they go to Chuck Schumer.
We have cenator of standing in New York. Chuck, we
need you to we need you to start subsidizing coffee

(04:52):
prices here for our clients. I can't afford them anymore. Again,
this is what happens when the government gets involved and
the free market watchdog on Wallstreet dot Com