COMING ATTRACTIONS

Pop-top boba chain Candy Cloud to open first New Braunfels shop

Candy Cloud serves its drinks in unique pop-top cans.

Three months after making its Texas debut in San Antonio, trendy beverage chain Candy Cloud is headed to New Braunfels. The Illinois-based franchise, known for its unique “canned-to-order” teas, lemonades, and lattes, has filed plans to open in the booming Town Center at Creekside development at 2830 Town Center Dr.

Although the branding may be happy, the company was born out of an unimaginable tragedy. Paityn and Alex Edwards started their entrepreneurial journey after the death of their young daughter. Finding comfort in the flower arrangements sent by loved ones, the couple eventually started a small floral business, Evelyn's Acre, named after their lost child.

Soon after, the Edwardses shifted focus to cotton candy, launching Candy Cloud in 2019. But it wasn’t until they added drinks to the menu that the business really took off. The couple stumbled upon an empty boba shop and opened their first brick-and-mortar in 2022.

Candy Cloud’s drinks run the gamut of international beverage trends from brown sugar shaken breves and horchata to boba-filled lemonades and caffeinated refreshers. The main innovation is that each order is sealed in a pop-top plastic “can” for easy portability.

The shop also offers a few dessert options like cake pops and shakes. The sweet sips take cues from baked goods, mixing up flavors like birthday cake, cookie butter, and dirt pie. Limited edition flavors are introduced on a monthly basis, so the New Braunfels location will have a fresh batch when it opens.

Currently, the chain has far-flung outposts in Tennessee, Florida, and Ohio, but most of its stores are clustered in Illinois and Wisconsin. The Town Center at Creekside outpost will only be the second Texas store.

According to recently filed Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation project details, that likely won’t happen until 2027. The shop says it plans to wrap up construction in February next year. CultureMap has reached out to the company for an update on the timeline.

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THE 'BUCKS STOP HERE

Starbucks to close 250 stores nationwide, including one in San Antonio

Photo by Josh Sorenson/ Pexels

A San Antonio Starbucks will have its final of operation on September 26.

Starbucks is closing a San Antonio coffeehouse this week as part of a broader plan to shutter 250 underperforming stores across North America, the company says.

In a September 24 press release, chief operating officer Mike Grams revealed Starbucks would close the coffee shops where the company doesn't "see a path to acceptable financial performance" or locations the company doesn't believe can "consistently deliver the experience [they] want" for customers and employees.

The Seattle-based coffee chain operates more than 40,000 coffee shops globally, and over 18,000 in North America. The recent closings make up about 1 percent of the total stores operating in North America alone.

Starbucks has not publicly released a list of the locations that will be closing, but an online list has been confirmed by CultureMap's content partner KVUE.

The San Antonio café at 8746 Wurzbach Road is one of the locations affected by the closure. The Starbucks store locator indicates affected stores will be closed after Saturday, September 26.

Grams says the company is speaking directly with affected employees and will transfer them to other stores whenever possible. Employees who cannot secure transfers will receive severance support.

Other Starbucks locations in Texas that are set to close include:

Snider Plaza – 6733 Hillcrest Ave., Dallas, 75205
Preston & Alexis – 14760 Preston Rd., Dallas, 75254
6115 Camp Bowie – 6115 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, 76116
Hwy 59 & Miller St. – 202 Loop 59 N., Atlanta, 75551
Loop 360 & Westlake – 3801 N. Capital Of Texas Hwy., Austin, 78746
SR 71 & US 290 – 7015 W. U.S. Hwy. 290, Austin, 78736
N. Bell & 1431 – 1109 N. Bell Blvd., Cedar Park, 78613
S. Home St. & FM 942 – 609 S. Home St., Corrigan, 75939
Main St. & TX-361 – 2975 Main St., Ingleside, 78362
College & 9th – 812 College Ave., Levelland, 79336
Murphy & Blackburn – 6600 Murphy Rd., Sachse, 75048
Tanger Outlets Houston – 5885 Gulf Freeway, Texas City, 77591
FM 544 & Hwy 78 – 410 Highway 78, Wylie, 75098

"Every year we close some coffeehouses and open others as part of managing our portfolio," Grams says in the release. "And as we shared previously, we remain excited about the significant long-term growth opportunity ahead in North America."

In May, Starbucks said it would close some U.S. offices, including one in Dallas, and would lay off 300 corporate employees and as part of its ongoing turnaround.

Starbucks has been trying to reduce costs and complexity under Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, who joined the company in 2024. Last year, the company laid off 2,000 corporate employees and closed hundreds of stores in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Niccol said last spring that the simplified structure would help the company innovate more quickly.

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This story contains material from the Associated Press.

starbucks closings coffee shop san antonio