Starbucks Plans 600 to 650 New Stores Globally in Fiscal 2026

Starbucks Corporation outlined plans to open 600 to 650 net new coffeehouses globally in fiscal 2026, with 150 to 175 of those being company-operated locations in the United States and 450 to 500 opening in international markets. The announcement, made during Investor Day 2026 presentations in New York City, signals the company's most structured expansion push in recent memory, backed by new store formats, a coaching program for new openings, and a pipeline management identified as numbering in the "thousands" of potential sites.

China, Starbucks' largest market outside the U.S., accounts for close to half of the 450 to 500 international locations planned for the year, according to Chain Store Age's coverage of the Investor Day presentations. COO Mike Grams framed the domestic opportunity in similarly expansive terms: "Even with our scale, the U.S. coffeehouse growth opportunity for Starbucks is big and broad."

A central piece of the expansion strategy is the rollout of the "Ristretto" store design, a format built for flexibility in size and configuration. The layout integrates café seating, drive-thru service and mobile order pickup within a single ecosystem, and Starbucks says the format is intended to streamline construction and improve execution consistency across different trade areas. Smaller-format stores, described as less expensive to build while still offering seating, drive-thru and mobile pickup capacity, are also part of the mix.

To support the pace of openings, Starbucks introduced "coffeehouse coaches," a program aimed at stabilizing new store launches while keeping existing locations on steady operational footing. The company has also been running an "uplift" program to upgrade existing stores: approximately 200 uplifts have been completed to date, concentrated in New York City and Southern California, with more than 1,000 targeted by the end of fiscal 2026. Alongside those renovations, Starbucks expects to add more than 25,000 café seats across the U.S. before the fiscal year closes.

The FY2026 targets are a stepping stone toward a more aggressive 2028 framework. Starbucks told investors it expects to open more than 2,000 net new stores globally in fiscal 2028, including approximately 400 U.S. company-operated locations, with international net new openings projected to reach at least 1,500 and "far outpacing North America." Beyond 2028, the company cited up to 5,000 potential new coffeehouse sites across the U.S. alone, a number that could double as average unit volumes grow.

CFO Cathy Smith acknowledged that the underlying operational work powering those targets will take time to fully register in the company's financials. "While we have more work to do to strengthen our operating foundation, we have a clear plan and we've made a lot of progress. The work underway isn't incremental, it's transformational," Smith said. She also noted that some improvements in areas including supply chain and in-store development will only begin contributing fully to Starbucks' P&L in "several years."

The 2028 financial framework calls for 5% or greater consolidated net revenue growth, 3% or greater global and U.S. comparable store sales growth, and a non-GAAP consolidated operating margin of 13.5% to 15%, with non-GAAP earnings per share targeted at $3.35 to $4.00. Niccol assured investors at the event that the company's ambitions "extend well beyond this timeline."

For a company that saw 600 to 650 global net new store openings in FY2025 as well, the FY2026 target holds the line on volume while layering in the operational infrastructure, format innovation and coaching support that management says will determine whether expansion translates into durable growth.