People in Japan queue for one last drink at Starbucks before 850 stores close

Apr 13, 2020 | News On Japan

Apr 13, 2020 (soranews24.com) - Coffeehouse chain shuts its doors to keep customers away but ends up attracting crowds instead.

Starbucks is huge in Japan. There are 1,200-plus branches, including the companyâ€™s second-largest Reserve Roastery. The green mermaidâ€™s goods are so sought after here that Japan-exclusive beverages are constantly being released and limited-edition drinkware collections sell out as soon as they hit the stores.

With so many customers walking through their doors in Japan every day, Starbucks was quick to take steps to protect staff and customers during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak. However, now that a state of emergency has been declared in seven prefectures by the central government, with strong appeals to members of the public to stay at home, Starbucks is upping their countermeasures by closing 850 of their stores.

The closures took effect from 9 April in the seven prefectures under the state of emergency (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka). And on the day before the closures, customers proved to be desperate for a final taste of Starbucks as they queued outside a number of locations before they even opened.

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