ST. LOUIS, MO – September 26, 2026 (StLouisRestaurantReview) Starbucks is closing two St. Louis-area coffeehouses as part of a nationwide reduction of approximately 250 North American locations, including a nearly new drive-thru restaurant in Marlborough that opened less than a year ago.

The two local locations are at 6621 Delmar Blvd. in University City’s Delmar Loop and 7901 Watson Road in Marlborough.

While the closure of the long-established Delmar Loop coffeehouse is significant for one of the region’s best-known restaurant and entertainment districts, the Marlborough closure stands out for another reason: the purpose-built Starbucks opened in November 2025 and occupies commercial property that was marketed to investors with a corporate-guaranteed 15-year lease.

Starbucks announced Sept. 24 that it had reviewed its North American coffeehouse portfolio and identified approximately 250 locations for closure.

Mike Grams, Starbucks chief operating officer, said the company identified locations where it did not believe it could consistently deliver the experience it wanted for customers and employees or where it did not see a path to acceptable financial performance.

The company has not publicly identified which consideration applied to either St. Louis-area store, and no verified basis exists to attribute the local closures specifically to sales, rent, competition, or another individual factor.

The closures represent approximately 1% of Starbucks’ more than 18,000 North American coffeehouses.

Nearly New Marlborough Starbucks Is Closing

The closure at 7901 Watson Road is particularly notable from a restaurant and commercial real estate perspective.

The approximately 2,236-square-foot freestanding Starbucks was constructed in 2025 on roughly 1.22 acres and features a drive-thru. The coffeehouse opened in November 2025, meaning the location is closing less than a year after opening.

The site is near the intersection of Watson and Laclede Station roads in south St. Louis County.

Commercial real estate marketing materials described the property as a new Starbucks built using the company’s modern prototype design.

More significantly, those materials marketed the property with a 15-year triple-net lease backed by a Starbucks corporate guarantee, including scheduled 10% rent increases every five years.

That long-term lease was a central feature in marketing the property to real-estate investors.

Newmark’s first-quarter 2026 St. Louis retail market report subsequently recorded the Starbucks property at 7901 Watson Road as selling for approximately $3.164 million, or roughly $1,415 per square foot.

Local property reporting identified the buyer as ARB Venture Properties LLC, an entity affiliated with California-based real-estate firm ARB Laurel LLC. Clayton-based Middle Fork Creek Capital developed the site.

The circumstances create an unusual situation: a property constructed specifically for Starbucks and sold as a long-term, corporate-backed restaurant investment is losing its operating Starbucks less than a year after the coffeehouse opened.

However, an important distinction remains.

The closure of the Starbucks coffeehouse does not necessarily mean Starbucks has been released from its lease obligations.

Publicly available information reviewed by St. Louis Restaurant Review does not establish whether Starbucks can terminate the lease early, whether it will continue paying rent after the restaurant closes, or whether the parties have reached another arrangement.

Without access to the complete lease or a statement from the parties, those financial obligations cannot be determined.

Delmar Loop Starbucks Also Closing

The other closure affects the Starbucks at 6621 Delmar Blvd. in University City, at the corner of Delmar Boulevard and Leland Avenue in the Delmar Loop.

Unlike the relatively new Marlborough store, the Delmar location has been part of an established pedestrian-oriented restaurant, retail, and entertainment district.

The location sits across from Vintage Vinyl and near numerous restaurants, cafés and entertainment businesses.

Local reporting based on Starbucks’ store information and contact with the location identified the store for closure as part of the current round of reductions.

The Loop also has a substantially different competitive environment from the Watson Road location.

Customers walking Delmar Boulevard have access to independent coffeehouses, cafés, restaurants and other beverage concepts. That gives consumers considerably more choices within a relatively compact area.

However, Starbucks has not said competition caused the Delmar location to close.

That distinction is important. Nearby coffee businesses provide context for the local restaurant market but should not be interpreted as evidence explaining Starbucks’ decision.

Starbucks Is Closing About 250 Coffeehouses

The St. Louis closures are part of a much larger portfolio review.

Starbucks announced that approximately 250 North American coffeehouses would close in late September after the company evaluated individual locations.

The closures come as Starbucks continues implementing its broader Back to Starbucks strategy, which is intended to improve the customer experience and strengthen the traditional coffeehouse atmosphere associated with the brand.

At the same time, Starbucks is investing heavily in other locations.

Starbucks announced Sept. 23 that it had completed redesigns of more than 1,000 coffeehouses across the United States and Canada since late 2025.

The company is working toward approximately 1,500 coffeehouse upgrades.

Those redesigned locations include changes such as softer seating, different lighting, artwork, greenery, and redesigned coffee bars intended to encourage customers to spend more time inside the stores.

The strategy demonstrates that the current closures are better understood as a portfolio restructuring rather than a general withdrawal from the coffeehouse business.

Starbucks Sales Have Been Growing

The closures also come as Starbucks’ North American comparable-store sales have improved.

For the company’s fiscal third quarter ended June 28, 2026, Starbucks reported that North American comparable-store sales increased 8.1%.

Comparable transactions increased 4.5%, while the average customer ticket increased 3.5%.

In the United States specifically, comparable-store sales increased 7.9%, driven by a 4.2% increase in transactions and a 3.6% increase in average ticket.

North American segment revenue increased approximately 7% to $7.4 billion for the quarter.

Those numbers are important when examining the St. Louis closures.

They show that Starbucks is not simply shutting restaurants because the overall North American business is experiencing falling comparable sales. Instead, the company is reviewing individual stores while simultaneously reporting stronger comparable-store performance across the broader system.

Starbucks had 18,371 North American stores at the end of its fiscal third quarter, including company-operated and licensed locations.

Two Very Different St. Louis Locations

The two St. Louis-area closures illustrate how restaurant companies continually evaluate stores even when those restaurants operate in dramatically different environments.

The Delmar Loop Starbucks occupies an established urban commercial district built heavily around restaurants, entertainment, and pedestrian traffic.

The Marlborough store represents the opposite model: a recently constructed freestanding suburban restaurant with a drive-thru, substantial parking and direct exposure to Watson Road traffic.

Yet both were selected for closure during the same portfolio review.

That is noteworthy for the St. Louis restaurant industry because drive-thru locations have become especially important to many national restaurant and beverage chains.

The Marlborough property was designed around that model and marketed as a long-term Starbucks investment.

Its rapid closure demonstrates that new construction, drive-thru access and even a long-term corporate lease do not necessarily guarantee that a restaurant will continue operating at a particular property.

What Happens to the Watson Road Property?

One of the biggest unanswered local questions is what happens next at 7901 Watson Road.

The property is relatively new, has a drive-thru, and was built for restaurant use. Those characteristics could make it attractive for another restaurant, coffee company, or quick-service operator if Starbucks ultimately vacates the building completely and the property becomes available.

But no replacement tenant has been announced.

No verified public information shows that the property is currently being marketed for lease to another restaurant operator.

Until the lease situation is clarified, speculation about a replacement would be premature.

The existing Starbucks lease is particularly important because commercial marketing materials described it as a rare 15-year triple-net arrangement with a corporate guarantee and scheduled rent increases.

Under a typical triple-net lease structure, a tenant assumes responsibility for various property expenses in addition to rent, but the specific terms governing this property can be determined only from the lease agreement.

For that reason, St. Louis Restaurant Review is not assuming that the restaurant closure automatically terminates Starbucks’ financial obligations to the property owner.

Employees Affected by Starbucks Closures

Starbucks said it would attempt to place employees from closing locations in other nearby coffeehouses where positions are available.

The company said employees who cannot be transferred would receive severance support.

Starbucks has not publicly provided a store-by-store employee count for the two St. Louis-area locations.

The company also said union status was not a factor in deciding which coffeehouses to close.

St. Louis Coffee Market Remains Competitive

The closures do not mean Starbucks is disappearing from St. Louis.

The company continues to operate numerous locations throughout the metropolitan area, including traditional freestanding stores, drive-thru locations and licensed Starbucks operations inside other retailers.

The broader St. Louis coffee market also includes a significant collection of locally owned coffeehouses and regional operators competing with national brands.

For restaurant operators, landlords and commercial real-estate investors, however, the Marlborough closure provides an especially interesting case study.

A newly constructed drive-thru restaurant backed by one of the world’s largest coffee companies opened in late 2025. The property was marketed with a 15-year corporate-guaranteed lease and subsequently sold for more than $3 million.

Less than a year after the coffeehouse opened, Starbucks decided to close it.

What remains unknown—and potentially more consequential for the property’s owner—is what happens to that long-term lease.

For customers, meanwhile, the immediate effect is more straightforward: Starbucks is eliminating two very different St. Louis-area coffeehouses as the company reshapes its North American store portfolio.

The Delmar Loop loses a familiar national coffee brand from one of the region’s most recognizable commercial corridors, while Marlborough loses a Starbucks that had barely begun operating.

Both closures are part of a national strategy, but the circumstances surrounding the Watson Road property make that location an unusually notable restaurant real estate story for the St. Louis market.

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