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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Starbucks reports register outage in stores in U.S., Canada

The Columbian
Published:

SEATTLE — A computer outage affecting sales registers disrupted sales Friday at 8,000 company-operated Starbucks stores in the United States and Canada.

The company said Friday evening that its stores that had not already closed for the evening were closing early. Starbucks says it was working to fix the problem.

Company spokesman Jim Olson says the problem affected 7,000 U.S. stores and 1,000 in Canada.

Earlier, customers found some stores closed and others offering free coffee.

Customer Suveer Sharma was philosophical at a Seattle store, saying, “I’m not going to complain about a free cup of coffee.”

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

A computer outage affecting sales registers disrupted sales Friday at 8,000 company-operated Starbucks stores in the United States and Canada.

The outage affected 7,000 U.S. stores and 1,000 in Canada, company spokesman Jim Olson said Friday evening.

Customers found some stores closed and others offering free coffee. In Phoenix, some stores blocked off the entrance to their drive-thrus.

“We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience or confusion,” the company said in a statement.

Starbucks said it was working to resolve the outage. The exact nature of the problem wasn’t immediately made clear.

At a Starbucks store in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, customers were told staff members couldn’t process orders. They were, however, being offered coffee at no charge.

“I’m not going to complain about a free cup of coffee,” said Suveer Sharma, who was getting a caffeine fix before he headed on a weekend trip to Idaho.

At a Starbucks in Phoenix, customers drove away angrily after seeing closed signs.

“I have a sleeping baby in the back and I’m waiting for a prescription,” said Claudia Larson, 40, of Scottsdale. “I wanted a coffee! I’m bummed!”

The outage hit the East Coast in the evening and the West Coast in the late afternoon.

Starbucks is busiest in the mornings but has been trying to attract more customers later in the day.

The company said the outage also affected its Evolution Fresh and Teavana stores.

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