Starbucks is exploring the sale of its stake in its Japan business while closing 250 underperforming North American stores as part of its turnaround strategy. The closures represent 1% of more than 18,000 North American stores and target locations that do not meet the company’s customer-experience or long-term financial expectations. The strategy also places greater emphasis on licensed operations overseas rather than company-operated stores. Starbucks did not publish a closure list, but a spreadsheet identified 36 likely closures in Southern California. The Times confirmed those stores were no longer listed in the company’s app and were either marked permanently closed on Google or did not answer calls. Starbucks has already closed more than 600 stores in North America and Europe and laid off hundreds of non-retail employees. Affected workers may be offered transfers, while employees unable to transfer will receive severance support. The moves come amid increased coffee-market competition and slowing sales, although Starbucks reported global comparable-store sales up 7.9% and North American sales up 8.1% in its fiscal third quarter.