Starbucks Malaysia denies closing 100 stores because of BDS – but did lose millions vs profits last year

Company posts 91.5m RM loss compared to 103.5m profit in previous year – but claims store closures ‘few and temporary’

Starbucks Malaysia has denied reports circulating that it has closed 100 stores because of the ‘BDS’ (boycott, divestment and sanctions’ campaign against it, saying that it has ‘temporarily’ closed ‘a few stores’ as part of a strategic review and that most will re-open.

However, when it posted its financial results for the year to June 2024 Berjaya Food Bhd, which operates the Starbucks franchise in Malaysia, reported a net loss of 91.5 million ringgit (RM) – more than £16m – compared to a net profit of RM103.4 million (£18.3m) in the previous financial year. An accompanying statement from the company blamed the drastic swing on the boycott campaign, alongside a loss from the sale of a subsidiary, and its sales fell by almost 35%, so there is no doubt that the BDS campaign is having a significant impact.

That impact is continuing worldwide. In its latest quarterly financial results, to September 2024, Starbucks reported below-forecast sales across its global business and its share price fell by 11% compared to just before the genocide in Gaza began.

Malaysia is not a one-off. Along with other global brands such as McDonalds, Starbucks management admitted earlier this year that the company’s profits and share price had taken a substantial hit because of the boycott campaign, in which it was included after Starbucks sued a union representing some Starbucks workers – the firm has engaged in union-busting efforts – for a post on the union’s social media account expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The firm’s chief executive was replaced in August after less than two years in the role.

It may be too early for the claim that Starbucks in Malaysia is closing 100 stores, but it is feeling the pain of the boycott campaign and may be trying to minimise negative PR effects. Campaigners should take care not to offer supporters of Israel’s genocide an opportunity to attack the anti-genocide movement by overclaiming, but should keep a close eye on the situation in Malaysia and other countries to see what develops.

Israel has killed as many as 200,000 civilians in Gaza, mostly women and children, maimed many more and is starving the two million surviving Palestinians in the besieged ‘strip’ while extending its murder of civilians to the West Bank and Lebanon.

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