2975 E. Colfax

Around this time last year, the Starbucks, known to regulars as The Barn, closed for renovations.

City records showed plans for drive-thru upgrades and a digital order screen. The store reopened a few months later, but with one big change that customers could no longer go inside. It became a drive-thru and mobile-order-only location.

That model didn’t last long. Less than a year later, the store has closed permanently. The signage and siren logo are gone, and a printed letter on the door confirms it.

“We’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to close this Starbucks location. We’re deeply grateful for the community that’s been built here.”

The closure comes amid nationwide restructuring at Starbucks. The company is eliminating 900 corporate jobs and closing hundreds of stores across the U.S. and Canada, citing underperformance and shifting customer habits. At least eleven Colorado stores have shut down in recent months, including locations in downtown Denver, Fort Collins, and Aurora.

Starbucks’ financial struggles have deepened, its stock is down 6% year-to-date and 10% over the past 12 months as the company faces slowing growth and higher costs.

This Colfax location was also one of Denver’s few unionized Starbucks stores, part of a wave of organizing that began in 2022. Some have quietly wondered if that status made the shop more vulnerable in a downsizing year.

Locally, The Barn never fully recovered after reopening. Limiting service to mobile and drive-thru orders was a tough sell along Colfax, especially with Hooked on Colfax, Lula Rose, and Mystical Blends nearby.

We live close by, and when we need to meet in person, we walk right past this Starbucks and head to Hooked on Colfax. If The Barn had reopened with a true indoor space, maybe it could’ve held on longer, but probably not. The farmers market a few blocks away every summer didn’t help weekend sales either.

Now, The Barn is closed again, this time for good.