Starbucks delays Philadelphia community store

Driving the news: Philadelphia's community store is still in the works, a Starbucks spokesperson tells Axios. The company has a location, but the spokesperson declined to share specifics or a construction timeline.

• Delays were due in part to a shift in Starbucks' overall strategies and city approvals, the spokesperson says.

How it works: Starbucks started opening community stores in underserved neighborhoods in 2011.

• Unlike a typical Starbucks, each community store is designed to reflect the culture and character of the neighborhood it's based in, and each one has a space for community events and programming and hires diverse construction contractors, per the company website.
• The company has nearly 150 stores globally.

Zoom out: The company has backed off its 2022 pledge to open 1,000 community stores globally by the end of the decade.

• Starbucks shut down a community store in Trenton, New Jersey, this year, per NJ.com. The company declined to cite reasons for the closures, according to the outlet.
• Earlier this fall, Starbucks saw sales drop amid a struggle to reverse declining foot traffic and sluggish service.

Flashback: Starbucks was slated to open a community store in West Philly's ParkWest Town Center shopping plaza by 2021. But that plan fizzled out during the pandemic.