The baristas at the Starbucks inside the 1700 Seventh Ave. office tower in downtown Seattle served their last drinks Sunday, Sept. 20.

The café had been busy throughout the day and had recently extended its evening hours, Seattle Red first reported. A barista disclosed the closure to a reporter and a customer. Starbucks did not respond to Seattle Red's request for comment. Another Starbucks about a block and a half away remains open.

The shutdown is the latest in a pattern that has accelerated since September 2025, when the company eliminated about 900 jobs and closed at least 28 Washington stores, including the Reserve Roastery on Capitol Hill.

In March, Starbucks confirmed five more Seattle closures, including locations on First Hill, in the University District and at the Seattle Center Armory. Those stores shut in April, costing 69 baristas and shift supervisors their jobs. Spokesperson Jaci Anderson said at the time that closures happen when a location "no longer fits how people in that community live, work, or gather."

In August, the company closed its store at 999 Third Ave. after DocuSign announced plans to leave the tower, as The Seattle Times reported. Starbucks has also pulled out of Alki and the Junction in West Seattle since 2024.

Downtown Seattle's office vacancy rate hit 35.8% in the second quarter of 2026, up from 34.6% a year earlier, according to Cushman & Wakefield data cited by Seattle Red.

The store closures are one piece of a broader corporate shift. In April, CEO Brian Niccol announced a $100 million Nashville corporate office that will employ up to 2,000 workers over five years at an average salary of $125,000, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal as cited by FOX 13 Seattle. That expansion could cost Washington up to $750 million in tax revenue, according to a Washington Policy Center projection. Starbucks said Seattle remains its global headquarters.

In May, Starbucks laid off 61 corporate workers at its Seattle headquarters, then announced 300 more cuts. In August, the company filed a WARN notice covering 224 additional employees, including 120 who declined to relocate to Nashville, KING 5 reported.

The company's relationship with city hall has been strained. Mayor Katie Wilson called for a Starbucks boycott at a workers' rally nine days after winning her race in November 2025. She later told the New York Times the remarks caused more harm than good. Her office said in April that it was focused on maintaining a partnership with the company.

Former CEO Howard Schultz pushed back in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, writing that Wilson "has chosen to cast business as a foil rather than a partner," as MyNorthwest reported in August.

Earlier in September, Niccol joined 37 other business leaders in signing a letter to Wilson demanding a 100-day public safety action plan and expanded police staffing, according to KOMO News.

The number of workers affected by the 1700 Seventh Ave. closure has not been disclosed.