Starbucks has officially closed its last two remaining Evolution Fresh juice stores.
As reported by Seattle Met, Starbucks will be closing the last two stores – both of which are located in Seattle – later this spring. The move will totally remove Starbucks from the fresh juice store market – although the company plans to continue selling the juices at Starbucks locations nationwide.
Starbucks had purchased Evolution Fresh in 2011, paying a reported $30 million. Prior to the Starbucks purchase, Evolution Fresh was a wholesaler. They sold juices to high-end grocers like Whole Foods. Later, the company opened standalone stores in Bellevue, Washington.
The last time we heard about Evolution Fresh was in March 2016, when the company debuted four new juice flavors – including two new members of the Protein Power lineup. Apparently, those new juices weren’t enough to keep the Evolution Fresh stores afloat.
Evolution Fresh is best-known for its juice product, Naked Juice. They started launching cafes in 2012 with a vision of becoming the “Starbucks” of juice bars. The cafés served cold-pressed, organic ginger and kale elixirs along with healthy wraps, salads, grain bowls featuring trendy ingredients like turmeric and avocado smoothies. However, the cafes never really took off.
Soon after Evolution Fresh opened its sixth store, the company decided to start closing stores. All six stores were located in Seattle or San Francisco.
If you want to drink Evolution Fresh juices in a café setting, you better head to downtown Seattle before June 2017. Otherwise, you’ll still see Evolution Fresh juices at Starbucks locations across the United States.
