Starbucks to stop selling newspapers in September
Extra! Extra! Read all about it – or not.
Starbucks announced it will stop selling The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Gannett papers like USA Today in more than 8,600 U.S. stores in September. The New York Post first reported on Starbucks’ decision to drop newspapers.
The coffee giant cited “changing customer behavior” for the move. The company has sold The Times since 2000 and other papers since 2010.
“We are always looking at what we offer our customers in our stores and making adjustments to our portfolio based on changing customer behavior,” Sanja Gould, a Starbucks spokesperson, said in a statement.
The New York Times said it is “disappointed” with the decision.
“Although disappointed by the decision, we’re confident that given our wide retail distribution, readers will have no trouble finding The New York Times for sale at nearby outlets,” New York Times spokesperson Jordan Cohen said in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal confirmed to The Associated Press that Starbucks is stopping print sales.
Newspaper sales may continue to be sold at Starbucks’ license locations in universities and hospitals because those are not operated by the coffee giant, USA Today noted.
The Pew Research Center found newspaper subscribers have been in decline since the mid-2000s. In 2018, weekday print circulation was down 12 percent and Sunday print circulation was down 13 percent. The center also found newspaper circulation in the U.S., which included print and digital, was down 8 percent on weekdays and 9 percent on Sundays versus the previous year.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP
This is not the first time Starbucks has decided to can old media. The company stopped selling CDs in stores in 2015.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.