Starbucks announces it will move or hire 2,000 workers in Nashville office expansion
Apr 21, 2026, 8:12 AM | Updated: 10:14 am
A Starbucks location in Nashville's Gulch neighborhood. (Photo courtesy of Starbucks)
(Photo courtesy of Starbucks)
Six weeks after Starbucks announced it was establishing a corporate office in Nashville, the coffee giant said it plans to move or hire 2,000 workers to the new Nashville office over the next five years.
According to several news outlets, the 2,000 employees would be more than half of Starbucks’ employees in the Seattle area. Despite the seismic move, Starbucks maintains that Seattle will remain its North American and global headquarters.
“The Nashville office will be a complement to our global and North America headquarters in Seattle, where we will maintain a large presence,” Sara Kelly, Starbucks’ chief partner officer, wrote in a press release.
Next month, Starbucks will begin operations in Tennessee at a temporary office in the Gulch, a neighborhood in downtown Nashville, while its corporate office continues to be constructed, preparing to officially open within the Peabody Union complex next year.
“We are proud to add Starbucks to the strong roster of brands that place their trust in our business climate and skilled workforce,” Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said in a prepared statement.
According to Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol, the eastward migration and expansion are part of the company’s “Back to Starbucks” plan, an initiative aimed at bolstering the brand and revitalizing lagging sales and profits.
Starbucks is following another Seattle-based company’s footsteps. Amazon has more than 3,000 employees based in Nashville after the company announced back in 2018 that it would open an operations hub within the state.
By October 2025, Starbucks shuttered 31 locations in Washington, including eight in Seattle. The closures led to 369 retail job cuts.
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