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At this point, Starbucks is basically synonymous with Seattle. The company was founded there in 1971, employs thousands of corporate employees in a building known as the Starbucks Center, and has partnered with many Seattle institutions, community groups, and sports teams (although maybe don’t mention former CEO Howard Schultz’s name to any Seattle SuperSonics fans).
However, if media reports are to be believed, the coffee giant might be looking to move its HQ across the country.
According to the real estate publication CoStar, Starbucks has reportedly been scouting large office spaces in Nashville. The outlet reported that Starbucks has been working with the real estate firm CBRE to locate a building with 250,000 square feet of office space in Nashville, enough for upwards of 2,000 employees.
Starbucks has denied rumors that it is planning to move its headquarters.
In 2025, Starbucks laid off more than 1,000 corporate workers across two rounds as it sought to cut costs amid CEO Brian Niccol’s “Back to Starbucks” plan. Earlier in March, the company announced it would be moving some of its logistics operations to Tennessee. At the time, Starbucks spokesperson Lori Torgerson told the Seattle Times that “Seattle remains our North America and Global Support HQ.”
The potential move could be related to Washington state’s recent “millionaires’ tax” on high earners, according to additional reporting from Paul Roberts for the Seattle Times. The tax, a 9.9% levy on incomes above $1 million that will impact just 20,000 households in the state, has drawn opposition from some of the state’s wealthy residents. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced he’d be moving to Miami days before the tax passed.
Tennessee has no income tax, low business taxes, and a steadily growing population. In his reporting, Roberts notes that “Metropolitan Nashville and the rest of Davidson County have been aggressively recruiting employers.” In a statement on Starbucks’ logistics office opening, Governor Bill Lee said that the state’s “strong values and fiscally-conservative approach are good for business.”
Read the full story on Starbucks’ possible headquarters move from Sprudge here.
Photo by Deepthi Clicks on Unsplash
