Southampton - It's true. Southampton village residents will have to travel to Bridgehampton, East Hampton or Hampton Bays for a cup of Starbucks coffee as the County Road 39 location is slated to be among the 600 stores closing across the country this fall.

Business gurus and idle observers have commented that the combination of the traffic-tricky location near the North Sea Road intersection and weakened the popularity of the coffee franchise added the Southampton location to the national list of closings, while similar installations on Main Street in Bridgehampton, Hampton Bays and East Hampton appear to be holding their own despite the economic slowdown and the $4 latte.

The Southampton Starbucks coffee shop opened in 2005 after a Chock Full O' Nuts coffee shop closed. The same location has been a passing home to a hot dog shop, a "greasy spoon" luncheonette and a diner.

According to the business reports, the trendy coffee chain has undergone a redirection to woo back clientele who began to complain that the chain had gotten too "fast food" oriented with self-serve espresso machines and expanded food menus. Over-expansion is partly to blame as the number of Starbucks stores mushroomed worldwide, from 5,886 in 2002 to 15,011 in 2007.

In a recent New York Times report, the company continues to post profits despite a slow down in sales growth and heightened competition. Earning $673 million in profit on $9.4 billion in net revenue for 2007, concern over a reduction in customer traffic sent the stock tumbling for the first time since it went public as "the once seemingly invincible" stock declined by 42 percent by the end of 2007.

Meanwhile the company has plans to expand its European outlets where all indicators promise a robust upturn.

As for the Southampton spot, discussions regarding the viability of the location for future food venues is being taken into consideration as the expansion of County Road 39 has added to parking and egress concerns.