Another business is closing up shop in downtown Chico.
This time, it’s coffee giant Starbucks that’s saying farewell. The Starbucks location is at the corner of Broadway and Third streets and has been in operation for nearly 30 years. By March 1, it’ll be gone.
"It’s been a bummer to see a lot of the businesses downtown closing."- Deana Ward, Starbucks customer
Chico State student Hannah Spears drops by the coffee shop at least once a week and was shocked to hear about the abrupt closure.
“Why is it closing?,” Spears said to NSPR. “I feel like it's pretty popular. I always see people here. I feel like it's a good location too.”
Another customer, Deana Ward, lamented the state of Chico’s downtown, which has seen at least 10 businesses shuttered in the last year, according to NSPR’s count.
“It’s been a bummer to see a lot of the businesses downtown closing,” Ward said. “And [Starbucks is] just some place I've been going to for years, so it's going to be sad.”
A Starbucks spokesperson didn’t answer why the location was closing. In an email they said they evaluate their stores continually. The spokesperson said all employees will be transferring to nearby locations.
But it comes as Starbucks has been trying to regain its footing in the face of declining sales. Last year, it announced hundreds of store closures and layoffs as part of a larger turnaround plan.
For neighboring businesses, there’s concern the store closing downtown carries real impacts.
Thomas Hightower, who owns Pita Pit next to Starbucks, said he’s struggled since he bought his business in 2021. Now he’s worried about losing the foot traffic the coffee shop brought in. But he says a bigger concern for him is a general lack of enthusiasm he’s seen from city residents when it comes to shopping downtown.
"It’s going to be on us — you, your community, this community, the area — to support these businesses to make it successful, like other cities around this country."- Thomas Hightower, Pita Pit owner
“They say, ‘you need to get out of downtown.’ And I'm like, ‘No, I think you need to come to downtown,’” Hightower told NSPR.
He says the reasons people give for avoiding downtown — safety, parking, homelessness — feel like just excuses to him.
“It’s going to be on us — you, your community, this community, the area — to support these businesses to make it successful, like other cities around this country,” Hightower said.
Ward said regardless of being disheartened, she still believes the city and its residents can turn things around downtown.
“I do hope that there’s some way to rejuvenate it,” Ward said. “and kind of like, breathe life back into it.”
Whatever takes the Starbuck’s place, Ward and Hightower both hope it’s something that will bring people back to the city’s core.
