A Quebec judge ordered Starbucks to keep its Centre Rockland café open, ruling that the lease requires the company to keep the lattes, Frappuccinos and coffee flowing until the agreement ends.
Justice Mathieu Piché‑Messier granted the order on April 16 at the request of Cominar, the landlord and manager of Centre Rockland. The court found that Starbucks breached its lease when it ceased operations on April 4 without the landlord’s consent, despite a 10‑year lease signed in 2017 that runs until 2027.
The lease contains a continuous‑operation clause that explicitly allows the landlord to seek injunctive relief if the tenant stops doing business. Starbucks attempted earlier this year to negotiate an early termination of the lease, according to the judgment. Cominar refused.
Starbucks later closed the café without notice. Signs first described the closing as temporary, then announced a permanent shutdown and directed customers to nearby Starbucks locations outside the mall, according to the judgment.
Starbucks did not appear at the hearing and filed no written submissions. The court noted that a Starbucks executive responded only briefly by email, saying the matter would be forwarded to the head office. The company did not immediately respond CoStar News' request to comment.
The court ruled that the closing created an urgent situation and risked serious and irreparable harm to the shopping centre. The judge accepted Cominar’s argument that Starbucks functions as a key tenant whose presence drives foot traffic and benefits neighboring retailers. A sudden departure, the court said, could undermine tenant retention, customer traffic and the overall commercial offering of the mall.
The court also found that keeping the café open temporarily would cause little hardship to Starbucks given the company’s size, scale and revenue. The judgment notes that Starbucks operates roughly 100 locations in Quebec and generated more than US$27.5 billion in North American revenue in 2025.
The safeguard order requires Starbucks to operate the café under the same hours in place before March 31, remove all signs announcing the closing and keep all equipment on site. The order lasts 10 days, the maximum duration permitted under Quebec civil procedure for this type of provisional relief. The limit allows Starbucks the opportunity to contest the matter in further court proceedings. The court ordered Starbucks to pay legal costs.
Centre Rockland has come under intense competition in recent times as it now competes with Royalmount to the west and Marché Central to the east. Cominar has said it wants to add housing to several of its shopping centres, including Centre Rockland and Central Station, as it works with municipalities to densify its retail sites while keeping the malls in place.
Cominar remains a major owner of retail and other commercial properties across Quebec even after being taken private in a 2022 buyout led by Montreal‑based Canderel.
Starbucks Coffee Canada is the Canadian operating arm of Seattle‑based Starbucks Corp., one of the world’s largest coffeehouse chains, including about 100 in Quebec. Starbucks closed dozens of locations across Canada in October 2025.
The company did not release an official Canada count, but industry estimates put the total at roughly 50 to 60 stores across Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta.