Patrons sit inside Starbucks store in downtown Boston, 01 Jul 2008

U.S.-based coffee chain Starbucks has announced plans to close 600stores in the United States in the next year due to the weak U.S.economy.

The Seattle, Washington-based coffee seller announcedthe move on Tuesday during a conference call with reporters. Thecompany says about 12,000 employees, or seven percent of its globalworkforce, will lose their jobs because of the closures.

It says it will open fewer than 200 stores in 2009.

Starbucks'Chief Financial Officer, Peter Bocian, said many of the stores beingclosed were located near other Starbucks stores. Because of thecompany's aggressive expansion practice, it is not uncommon in theUnited States to see two of the shops within blocks of or even acrossthe street from each other.

The company also has been expanding worldwide, operating in 45 countries.

Some information for this report was provided by.