Seventy percent of the stores to be shut are less than three years old, the company said. Mr. Schultz, the 54-year-old former CEO who regained the post in January, is coming to grips with Starbucks' declining earnings and the "overgrowth" of the past few years, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., Matthew DiFrisco, said. "It shows Schultz is willing to do the tough things that are necessary," an analyst at Coldstream Capital Management Inc. in Bellevue, Wash., James Walsh, said yesterday in a telephone interview. Coldstream has $1.1 billion under management, including Starbucks shares. The chief financial officer of Starbucks, Peter Bocian, estimated the stores were taking 25% to 30% of sales from nearby locations. The closings will hurt long-term revenue projections while helping the company achieve its profit goals, Mr. Bocian said on a conference call, without elaborating.