Coffee shop by Louisville's Fourth Street Live set to close by the weekend

Downtown Louisville visitors looking for a cup of coffee will soon have one less option to pick from.

The Starbucks coffee shop located inside the Hyatt Regency Louisville hotel at 311 S. Fourth St. will close by Friday, a Starbucks spokesperson said Wednesday.

This location is not a corporate-owned Starbucks but is instead a licensed location, according to the company. Starbucks said the closure is due to "a lack of payment" from the licensee.

"It's just due to the fact that we're ending our business relationship with the licensee and so the store will likely be dark by Friday, if not before," a spokesperson said.

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Since this location is not a corporate location, the employees are technically not Starbucks employees, but are instead employees of the license holder.

A manager at the Hyatt Regency Hotel told the Courier Journal, the hotel has not yet been informed of the Starbucks closing.

According to Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Starbucks, as of Jan. 1, 2023, the company has more than 36,000 company-operated and licensed stores nationwide, a 5% increase from last year. Licensed stores accounted for $1.1 billion in total revenue for the company for the quarter that ended at the start of the new year.

"There are other locations in the city and we would always welcome our customers, visit us at those stores," a Starbucks spokesperson said.

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Contact reporter Olivia Evans at oevans@courier-journal.com or on Twitter at @oliviamevans_

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Starbucks by Fourth Street Live to close this week