Living in San Francisco, watching the neighborhood coffee shops fold only to later have their storefronts converted into Starbucks is a pretty common sight, or least it was. Now it looks like the inverse is about to happen…karma is a bitch! Or perhaps it’s just the economy that’s a bitch or an asshole or a jerk but check this out: Starbucks is starting to shut down stores. It’s the end of an era:

Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday that it would cut as many as 6,700 jobs as it closes hundreds more stores and eliminates more positions at its corporate headquarters.

Faced with slowing demand for lattes and cappuccinos because of the recession, Starbucks plans to close 300 stores, including 200 in the United States, and eliminate about 6,000 store jobs. The company also plans to eliminate about 700 corporate jobs, including about 350 at its corporate headquarters in Seattle.

The coffee giant made the announcement as it reported that its profit dropped 69 percent in its fiscal first quarter with sales continuing to slide.

I guess that with all the unemployment, foreclosures and inflation paying $6.50 for a weak cup of milk starts looking questionable. What’s sad about all of this is the layoffs, which of course affect people like students and the working class.

But if it were up to me I’d settle for, say, just one Starbucks in a 5-block radius in San Francisco, instead of 15 in a 2-block radius in my hood (I’m not exaggerating…the photo above actually shows one right in front of the other in Vancouver). The growth rate that they had up until now — 8 stores per day — was insane, and the small neighborhood coffee shop went the way of the dinosaurs because of this.

Know what also suffered? My tolerance level. Seeing aggressive office workers basically ready to off anyone who stands in their way between them and their skinny vanilla latte really tested my own humanity and made little old me feel murderous on a regular basis. I know I’m not the only one who has felt this way. New Yorkers, you know what I’m talking about!

Are you mourning the decline of Starbucks or celebrating it? Tell us your thoughts.

Via / MSNBC

Image via orangejack on Flickr