Grand Strand Starbucks locations feeling pinch from global tech outage

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Friday was tough going for one of America’s most recognizable brands.

A global tech outage powered down Starbucks locations, leaving store managers scrambling to make sure customers were getting their caffeine fixes.

“We went to take an order in the drive-thru and noticed that no stickers were printing out, so that’s when I was like, ‘it’s going to be a fun day,'” said Hailey Hardisty, assistant manager of the Dick Pond Road location near Ocean Lakes Family Campground.

News13 visited several coffee shops and gas stations about how the outage not only slowed things down, but potentially impacted sales.

Hardisty said workers noticed the problem about 5 a.m. on Friday, and were able to operate exclusively via drive-thru.

Payment options remained functional, but the limited customer traffic had her anxious for a return to normal.

“It’d be great if we could get back up and running today so that sales don’t hurt any more than they already are for, I’m sure, everybody who’s experiencing this,” Hardisty said.

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Jackie LiBrizzi is a multimedia journalist at News13. Jackie is originally from Hamilton, New Jersey, and was raised in Piedmont, South Carolina. Jackie joined the News13 team in June 2023 after she graduated as a student-athlete from the University of South Carolina in May 2023. Follow Jackie on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook , or Instagram , and read more of her work he r e .

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