CEO Niccol Revamp Strategy will close Starbucks pick-up-only stores
Starbucks CEO Brian Nicole speaks with Liz Claman of Fox Business, the company’s leadership meeting. There, we will consider top priorities and growth strategies and add protein cold forms to our menu innovation drinks.
Starbucks will close pick-up-only grab-and-ghost stores next year, CEO Brian Nicole Overhauling the strategic coffeehouse portfolio aimed at revitalizing traffic and regaining in-store experiences.
Following its North American portfolio valuation, Starbucks decided to set the mobile ordering and pick-up-only concept to sunset in 2026 to ensure that “there are the right coffee shops in the right places to promote profitability and provide the Starbucks experience.”
Nicole said the Grab and Go model is “overly transactional and lacks the warmth and human connection that defines our brand.” Nicole, who took over almost a year ago, believes its digital products are strong enough to provide the same level of convenience to its customers.
Starbucks sets new dress codes for workers when revamping the cafe look
His goal is to stimulate the coffeehouse aesthetic to keep customers as customers longer while providing a “good” mobile ordering experience.
Since taking over as CEO in the fall of 2024, Niccol has been trying to rebuild the company’s culture through him.”“Back to Starbucks” strategy.

A starbucks iced coffee drinker in Krakow, Poland on June 7, 2025. (Batata Zawrzel / Nurphoto Getty Images / Getty Images)
Niccoli works not only to increase profitability, but also to improve the work environment and create “unparalleled best work in retail” after years of pressure from national unification campaigns and increasing pressure from consecutive disappointing fiscal quarters. As traffic decreases.
Starbucks CEO says the pricing transparency required for mobile apps is getting better

Starbucks CEO Brian Nicole is keeping an eye on during the Golden Bear Pro before the Memorial Tournament held at the Muirfield Village Golf Club on May 28, 2025 in Dublin, Ohio. (Michael Reeves/Getty Images/Getty Images)
He has worked to streamline operations, including cutting the roles of 1,100 support partners and closing hundreds of open, unopened positions earlier this year to build a more agile team. Additionally, employees need to return to the office four days a week to “enact our office culture,” Nicole said.
He also simplified the company’s menu, reduced over a dozen lower performance drinks, spurring innovation and reducing wait times. He also said the company is in the midst of working to make food and drink prices more transparent in the app.
Ticker | safety | last | change | change % |
---|---|---|---|---|
swub | Starbucks Corp. | 92.76 | -0.20 |
-0.22% |
Click here to get your Fox business on the go
To bring the store back to its previous aesthetic, they reintroduced a “personal touch” such as retrieving the seasoning bar and offering mugs to customers who ordered “here” or offering free refills of hot brewing or iced coffee or tea. The goal is to keep customers in the store for a long time.

On Thursday, July 28th, 2022, employees will hand over drinks to customers at a drive-thru at a Starbucks Coffee Shop in Hercules, California. (Photographer: Getty Images/David Paul Morris via Getty Images/Bloomberg)
The company is also boosting profits, including double the worker’s parental leave.