By James R. Lindamood Amid news from Starbucks about the closing of 600 stores, many people around the country are participating in the “Save our Starbucks” campaign. Residents of cities around the country are getting involved, circulating petitions and making desperate pleas outside of Starbucks locations nationwide. Many of the most staunch supporters have started making frenzied phone calls to the company's headquarters in a bid to make the coffee giant change its mind. Some members of management are taking the move even harder than the general populace, with many of them afraid that it will be more difficult to entice employees to join their ranks if they can't tout their proximity to one of the nationwide coffee outlets. “Knowing Starbucks, there's probably [another] one within a few blocks," says Kate Walker, a facilities manager for SunGard Financial Systems, "But that's probably two blocks too far." For many people, just knowing where the nearest caffeine haven is isn't good enough. It must be within a 2 or 3 minute walk from the office, so those people who get 15 minute coffee breaks can make a mad-dash to the nearest Starbucks. Starbucks company officials have told the press that they are having conversations about how to field such pleas for consideraton, though they won't say just what steps they're entertaining. The hardest hit states will be Mississippi which, according the the Starbucks website, is 41 percent of the stores in the state. North Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska are all losing over 30 percent, as well. Starbucks stores have long been seen as a large draw for other service businesses, such as theatres and restaurants, as well as major retailers. Industry analysts believe that this is the result of Starbucks expanding too far too fast, and that this is just a correction. Starbucks, they believe, will be expanding again in short order, however, for coffee fanatics around the country, it can't be soon enough.
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