Pedestrians walk pass a Starbuck coffee shop in Washington on Jan. 29, 2009. Starbucks said Wednesday it was slashing 6,700 jobs and closing 300 stores in a further belt-tightenting by the coffee house giant to cope with a rapidly weakening global economy.

BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Coffee shop retailer Starbucks will close 300 stores and eliminate 6,700 jobs as the premium coffee outlet finds it hard to thrive in the struggling economy, the company said Wednesday.

Some 200 of the store closures will take place in the United States with 100 more facing closure overseas, said the Seattle-based company, which estimated that the cuts will save it 500 million U.S. dollars this year.

The move comes after the company announced the closing of more than 600 stores in July.

The job cuts coincided with an earnings report which saw its quarterly revenue fall 6 percent to 2.6 billion dollars, with same store sales falling 9 percent. Profit plunged to 64.3 million dollars from 208 million in the same period a year earlier.

Demand for Starbucks' pricey drinks has plummeted in the economic downturn as customers turn to cheaper alternatives offered by companies like McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts. As of the end of last year, Starbucks still operated more than 11,500 stores in America and 5,000 more internationally.