You're breaking my heart, Starbucks.

[Mark Farinella]

The full list of anticipated U.S. closures of Starbucks coffee retail stores is out, and the Hockomock League has been hardest hit with the announcement that three stores within its borders will be shuttered -- the relatively new Emerald Square shop in North Attleboro, plus older stores in Sharon and Stoughton.

They're among the seven Massachusetts stores to be closed. Other closures in the Bay State involve stores in Burlington, Dartmouth, Newton and Worcester.

I've been going to the Sharon store for several years, yet recently switched most of my business to the drive-thru store that opened on U.S. 1 in Walpole, which has apparently survived. Still, it was a pleasure to cover a high school football game on a Saturday afternoon in Sharon -- usually a big win by one of our local teams -- and then to go to the 'Bucks in downtown and park at one of the tables to write my story, venti quad non-fat latte in hand.

As for the Emerald Square store, I always thought that it should have been in a more prominent place, closer to the food court on the third floor, or maybe in a corner store leading to an exit. It was too hidden deep in the first-floor bowels to get the traffic it should have.

Starbucks stores close to home in Seekonk and the Target (pronounced "Tar-ZHEY" by coffee snobs like me) stores in Easton and Plainville have also apparently survived.

Amid all this, Starbucks continues to open new stores that make me wonder who's running the show. Already operating a successful storefront in Mashpee Commons, the company recently opened a full-service, airport-like kiosk at the Roche Bros. supermarket less than a half-mile away.

It makes me wonder if the downtown Sharon store, which has notoriously bad parking, might be replaced by a newer one when the "Sharon Commons" shopping development on South Main Street (apparently very similar to the one in Mashpee) is complete.

In New England, both Rhode Island and Vermont escaped the ax. But this is a black day for gourmet coffee lovers in our area. We were one of the last regions in the U.S. to be colonized by the Seattle-based coffee giant, and now we are once again forced to surrender ground to the Evil Empire of Dunkin' Donuts.

Fortunately, these cuts don't affect the operation of the "Seattle's Best" kiosks inside local Borders book stores, even though Starbucks now owns that chain. The one at the new Mansfield Borders is particularly good -- friendly help, prompt service, a full menu of drinks and snacks, and their iced coffee is superior to any Starbucks or DD that I've visited lately.

[Rick Foster]

Ah starbucks--makers of the world's worst coffee. And most overpriced.
Smoke em if you got em. I won't miss 'em.

[David Linton]

A few weeks ago I e-mailed Starbucks to ask about their planned store for Mansfield Commons on School Street. They e-mailed back and said it was still on the books but I had to ask the developer what was happening. I didn't do that but Mansfield Common would be a great place to get a Mocha Frapoccino. Of course, that would compete with their own Seattle's Best at Borders.

[Mark Farinella]

Dave, at this point, I almost don't care if that Starbucks ever opens -- especially if the planning board nixes the drive-thru window. The "Seattle's Best" kiosk does a great job with coffee (better iced than 'Bucks) and the people are nice.