Starbucks Says “Au Revoir” To La Boulange

San Franciscans will soon have to bid adieu to the Starbucks-owned La Boulange stores as the company plans to close all 23 locations located in California.

While the Starbucks stores across the U.S. and Canada would continue to sell the La Boulange bakery items, it wasn’t sustainable for the business’s long-term growth to operate the stores, which includes 22 locations in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles, the company said.

The global coffee giant, which bought the French style bakery from Bay Bread Group for $100 million in 2012, would also shut the two manufacturing plants that serve the La Boulange bakery cafes in California, according to USA Today.

Meanwhile, as the company closes its doors, La Boulange’s founder Pascal Rigo, who has been serving as the senior vice president of food at Starbucks, would also be leaving the company.

The decision comes at a time when the company is trying to slim down without missing its goal of growing its U.S. food business by an additional $2 billion by 2020.

The company also announced plans to shut down the retail store location of San Francisco-based Evolution Fresh, the juice company, which it reportedly bought for $30 million in 2011.

As the company reworks its business strategy for the U.S. market, it also rolled out “Order & Pay,” an in-app ordering system, which allows users to pickup later, in 3,400 stores across 21 U.S. states.

“Allowing consumers to conveniently conduct their lives and complete commerce from wherever they have to be was actually occurring as a cultural shift in time allocation away from retail experiences,” said CEO Howard Schultz. Starbucks is uniquely well positioned to benefit from this convergence as a destination experience.”

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