Why a Scenic Street Coffee Location Shut Without Notice

A Starbucks beside Kunming's Green Lake closed during the National Day holiday, with doors locked, construction barriers up and brand signage removed. Regulars who used the lakeside store as a study spot received no public notice, and some staff described it as store maintenance. The location has since disappeared from the official app, alongside closures at the Jinjun Plaza and Xudong K9 Center stores.

Several explanations circulated, including rising rent, an expired lease, the space being subleased, and legal disputes affecting the building. The timing stood out because tourist-area coffee shops usually see their busiest trade during Golden Week, when domestic trips exceeded 1.1 billion in the first four days. For regulars, the loss is less about street coffee than about a daily routine tied to the lake view.

During the National Day holiday, while coffee shops in major tourist attractions were welcoming peak crowds, a Starbucks next to Kunming's Green Lake quietly closed its doors. This lakeside store, regarded by many regulars as a "study base," was locked up without warning, with construction barriers erected and brand signage removed. Reasons for the closure are varied: rising rent, an expired lease not renewed, the space subleased to another brand, and even the landlord's legal disputes and the entire building being subject to foreclosure. Meanwhile, the Kunming Jinjun Plaza store and the Xudong K9 Center store have also suspended operations one after another, sparking speculation that the brand is adjusting its local layout. For regulars, what's lost is not just a cup of coffee, but a piece of daily memory accompanied by lake views. This article will sort through the sequence of events and the various accounts, while retaining relevant product and recommendation information from Front Street Coffee.

▲

Click to follow | Daily specialty coffee culture magazine Coffee Workshop

This year's National Day Golden Week once again saw the "sea of people" phenomenon, with nationwide trips exceeding 1.1 billion in the first four days of the holiday. Tourist attractions were packed with crowds, and surrounding dining businesses benefited as well, with coffee shops and tea beverage stores seeing noticeably busier trade.

However, recently, a Kunming netizen noticed that a Starbucks located on the south side of Green Lake—which should have been a bustling spot for tourists to rest—had silently ceased operations. The poster described that when she passed near the Green Lake store these past few days, she saw the doors tightly locked, no employees visible inside, no notices posted outside, and no words about renovations or upgrades, making it impossible to determine exactly when it had closed.

Some netizens added that the store issued no notice before closing, only explaining to customers that it was undergoing store maintenance; but currently the store can no longer be found on the official app, and nearby residents also said they had seen construction barriers when passing recently, with workers on site removing brand signage and interior fittings.

Regarding the reason for the sudden closure, netizens have offered various accounts. One theory is that rent rose, and Starbucks chose to withdraw after its contract expired without renewing the lease; others speculate that the space may have been subleased to another brand, with a new dining brand taking over after Starbucks exits; still others say that because the landlord became involved in legal disputes, the entire building will enter foreclosure proceedings, forcing Starbucks to vacate early.

Whatever the reason, the sudden end of this Starbucks with its sweeping views of Green Lake's stunning scenery leaves regular patrons full of emotion.

In the eyes of regulars, this Starbucks is right next to Green Lake, with a quiet and comfortable atmosphere ideal for studying and working. Many have dug out photos saved in their albums, calling it an excellent "homework base," saying that during their student years they would often order a drink and spend unforgettable time reading and doing practice problems in the store.

Though some console themselves with "out with the old, in with the new," and new stores may still appear in Kunming's urban area after the Green Lake Starbucks closes, for nearby residents, a coffee shop that left a special mark on their lives is ultimately different. So when they saw the doors shut, they could hardly hide their shock, and regretted not being able to properly bid farewell to this old store before it closed.

Some also thought of the Starbucks Guilin first store that closed before National Day, believing that these stores, opened to capitalize on local natural scenery and operating for many years, had long merged with the surrounding landscape to become a unique scenic feature. Yet perhaps because the sales of these locally distinctive image stores fell short of expectations, they ultimately met a closed-store fate—truly regrettable.

In addition, Kunming netizens also pointed out that besides the Green Lake store, the Jinjun Plaza store, open for less than two years, also closed recently. And on the platform, stores showing as temporarily closed also include the Xudong K9 Center store.

In response, many speculate that the brand may be systematically closing some unprofitable stores and readjusting its local market layout. After all, for the brand, no matter how special a store's meaning is to customers, once it fails to bring considerable profit, they will choose to "cut losses decisively" and abandon it.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Disclaimer: Some images in this article are from the internet. For some content on the website, such as images, we will respect the original author's copyright and indicate the source, but due to the large quantity, some images and texts may not have been credited in time; please forgive us. If the original author has any disputes, they may contact the website for handling, and once verified we will immediately correct it. Compiled and edited by "Coffee Workshop"; please indicate the source when reposting. If there is any infringement, please inform us for removal. Thank you~!

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.