Starbucks Gives Up on Putney High Street Again
Closes branch as part of a broader retrenchment across London
Starbucks former branch on the High Street
November 6, 2024
Without much fanfare, Starbucks closed its Putney High Street branch earlier this month.
The small outlet next to the Tesco Express had been open for less than three years after taking over the long vacant former Ryness unit.
This is the second time in a decade that Starbucks has withdrawn from the High Street. At the end of 2016 it shut its branch at the corner unit at number 117 which became Wasabi until recently opening as a competitor chain coffee shop Blank Street.
The Putney move is one of a spate of closures across London in recent weeks with six ceasing trading including the branch in Acton. The company closely monitors trading data and will open and close stores accordingly but recently the number of closures appears to be outweighing new launches.
Industry analysts are relatively optimistic about the coffee shop sector predicting that the number in the UK, which is already over 10,000, will surpass the number of pubs by 2030. Customers are accepting a higher price point for a cup of coffee meaning margins are high, but it appears the level of competition in Putney has become too high for the company with the Blank Street opening perhaps being the last straw.
Analysts and trade commentators frame the current phase as a deliberate reshaping of the company’s estate rather than a marked decline in its fortunes: closures are being used to free up capital for new openings in locations and formats judged more resilient or profitable.
Starbucks is yet to respond to a request for comment.
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