New Delhi, Sept. 25 -- Starbucks announced on Thursday that it has approved a restructuring plan to turn around its "struggling business", which will involve shutting down underperforming coffee houses and laying off staff.

The company expects to incur about $1 billion in costs under the restructuring plan in an attempt to revive sales and profits under CEO Brian Niccol, Starbucks said in a regulatory filing.

Niccol noted that Starbucks will permanently halt operations at hundreds of outlets this month, or about 1% of its locations. The company had 18,734 stores in North America at the end of June, and by the end of September, it will end up with 18,300 stores, CNN reported.

In a letter to employees, the chief executive said the compan...