Starbucks $SBUX announced a $100 million investment to open a corporate office in Nashville, Tennessee, with plans to employ up to 2,000 workers there over the next five years, the company said Tuesday.
The coffee chain plans to occupy a new downtown Nashville building by 2027 as part of its Southeast expansion strategy
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Starbucks $SBUX announced a $100 million investment to open a corporate office in Nashville, Tennessee, with plans to employ up to 2,000 workers there over the next five years, the company said Tuesday.
According to the company, operations currently housed at Starbucks' Seattle headquarters will be partially shifted to Nashville, which will also anchor the chain's push to expand retail locations throughout the Southeast. CEO Brian Niccol said in a statement that Nashville offers proximity to a growing number of coffeehouses and suppliers across the Southeast, as well as access to a broad talent pool.
In May, Starbucks will open a temporary office in Nashville's Gulch neighborhood. The company expects to move into its permanent location — a building it will occupy entirely in the Peabody Union development on the banks of the Cumberland River — in 2027, according to a message sent to employees by Sara Kelly, Starbucks' chief partner officer.
Kelly outlined three categories of work coming to Nashville: jobs created to support expansion across the South and East, functions previously outsourced to contractors that Starbucks is reclaiming, and certain roles currently performed by Seattle-based employees. On Tuesday, the company also told its technology team that some of those roles would move to Nashville as well. Kelly said the majority of Starbucks' corporate staff will remain in Seattle.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell both issued statements welcoming the announcement. Starbucks also received a year's free rent at its new Nashville location as part of the deal, according to the Spokesman.
The Nashville expansion is part of Starbucks' broader "Back to Starbucks" turnaround strategy under Niccol, who took over as CEO in late 2024. That plan includes adding thousands of new U.S. stores, particularly in the South and Northeast, while also cutting $2 billion in costs over several years.
The company's early relocation efforts have faced resistance, according to Bloomberg. Few employees from the first group asked to move — Starbucks' sourcing teams, who were notified in March — have accepted the relocation. Bloomberg reported that while some employees were offered stock grants worth tens of thousands of dollars as an incentive, they were simultaneously informed of mandatory pay reductions of at least 5%, which the company justified by pointing to lower living costs in Nashville. For those who chose not to make the move, Bloomberg reported that Starbucks put forward retention packages beginning at $15,000, contingent on the employee staying with the company into at least 2027.
A Nashville workforce of that size would exceed half of the total staff currently employed at Starbucks' Seattle headquarters, the Spokesman reported.
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