☕ Is Starbucks leaving Seattle?

Is Starbucks Leaving Seattle?

Earlier this month, Starbucks announced its plans to open an office in Tennessee, citing its plan to ‘establish a more strategic presence in the southeast region of the U.S.’ Initially, it appeared that this would affect a small number, or “dozens” of Seattle employees, but it looks like the office space they’re seeking is significant. [Seattle Times]

• Large New Space: The company is apparently looking for a 250,000 square foot office space, big enough for up to 2,000 employees. As of 2023, the company’s Sodo headquarters had 3,750 employees. [Costar]
• No Plans To Move, According To Starbucks: Back in 2024, CEO Brian Niccol told Yahoo! Finance that moving the company’s headquarters wasn’t on the to-do list, but the large office space has folks speculating on the future of the business in Seattle. It is unclear if the company has any plans to move Seattle employees to Nashville or if they would hire locally to fill the new office’s capacity. [Seattle Times]
• Starbucks’ Growth Plans: The past few years have been challenging for the company. Last year, more than 30 locations closed as part of a larger downsizing in the U.S. and Canada, and it laid off 1,000 employees in the PNW region, as well as 1,100 corporate employees. As recently as this month, the company closed five Seattle locations. In 2024, Starbucks brought on Niccol to help turn the company around. Their plan to expand into the Southeast is aimed at growing the business in a place where it has fewer locations. [Seattle Times]

🪙 Penny Plan Reaches Ferguson’s Desk: The last U.S. penny was minted in November 2025, and the Washington legislature just passed a plan on how to handle pennies in cash transactions: round to the nickel. For example, if a transaction ends in 1 or 2, you round down to zero. If it is 3,4,6,7, round to 5. 8, or 9? Round to 10. The bill that would authorize this rounding plan has yet to be signed by Governor Ferguson. [Seattle Times]

🏒 Torrent Trade With Boston: The Seattle Torrent has traded forward Jessie Eldridge for forward Theresa Schafzahl ahead of the PWHL’s March 30 trade deadline. This comes as the Torrent have been struggling on the road and have lost six of their last seven games. The team is currently without captain Hillary Knight and forward Hannah Bilka, who are both injured. [PWHL]

⚽ Construction To Pause for World Cup: From June 8 to July 7, the Department of Transportation will pause construction in key areas of the city to help decrease traffic and make streets, sidewalks, and other public spaces easily accessible. To learn more and see what areas will be impacted, visit SDOT’s website. [SDOT]