Could Starbucks Closures Fuel Boston’s Locally Owned Coffee Shops?

Since Sunday, Sept. 28, nearly 20 Starbucks stores have closed in Greater Boston. With these closures comes speculation about how these changes will impact the future of Boston's locally owned coffee shops.

Cafe owners like Anil Mezini of Jaho Coffee Roaster & Wine Bar are aware of interest from brokers and larger companies in occupying the prime locations formerly held by Starbucks. High rents are a significant barrier for small businesses trying to compete.

“The couple of [stores] I've inquired more about, the rent is higher than anything we've done before,” said Mezini, in a statement shared with Boston.com.  

In neighborhoods like Davis Square, a high density of local coffee shops, such as Nine Bar Espresso and Diesel Cafe, is positioning itself to attract Starbucks' displaced customers. Some owners, however, remain cautious about market saturation.

That saturation is one of the underlying factors that has contributed to Starbucks' struggles in the market. Competition from specialty shops, changing consumer preferences influenced by the pandemic, and economic pressures such as rising coffee prices and tariffs have contributed to a decline in Starbucks' popularity.

Industry veterans like George Howell acknowledge the turmoil in the coffee industry.

“Who knows where things are going?” said Howell, who started The Coffee Connection in the 1970s, in a statement shared with Boston.com. Howell sold The Coffee Connection to Starbucks in the 1990s, enabling the company to make inroads into the Boston market.

Real estate experts predict that larger coffee operators or other retail tenants will soon fill the vacant Starbucks locations. High rents and a competitive market favor bigger businesses over small local cafes.

Max Stein, who operates the cafe and wine bar Tilde and has eight years of experience in the coffee business, told Boston.com that the cafes Boston has today are a novel concept. For many, the cafes followed Starbucks' model of what a cafe should be, harkening back to a time when Starbucks operated at a slower pace and had a more straightforward menu.