Starbucks plans to close about 250 stores this week. The stores are in North America.

That is about 1% of its 18,000 locations. The closures are part of a turnaround plan.

Starbucks calls it the "Back to Starbucks" strategy. On Thursday Starbucks did not name the stores.

It also did not say how many are in the United States. It did not say how many are unionized.

Starbucks said a review found stores with weak performance. Some stores also had poor customer experience.

Starbucks' chief operating officer promised to support affected staff. Workers can transfer to other stores or get severance pay.

Starbucks is also upgrading about 1,500 stores. The company says it remains committed to growing in North America.

Last year Starbucks closed 627 stores across North America and Europe. It also cut 900 non-retail jobs then.