Starbucks just took a major step back on a big initiative

Hollis Johnson/Business InsiderStarbucks is pulling back on its plan to begin selling booze at locations from coast to coast. 

The coffee giant has withdrawn applications to sell alcohol at three of its San Francisco locations, reports Fortune.

Starbucks reportedly withdrew the applications due to concerns that shops selling beer and wine would hurt existing restaurants' business in a city where there is already a high density of liquor licenses. Additionally complicating matters is the fact that the San Francisco Police Department and Board of Supervisors reportedly opposed Starbucks' plans to sell alcohol.

The plan to add alcohol to the menu in San Francisco was part of the coffee chain's strategy to expand "Starbucks Evenings," a program that allows locations to serve more nighttime-oriented items such as beer, wine, and cheese plates. Here's what offerings look like at locations that have already rolled out the evening menu:

   Starbucks began testing the evenings menu at six stores in the Pacific Northwest in 2010. Since then, Starbucks across the US - plus one location in Tokyo that serves a wine Frappuccino - have added wine and beer to the menu, with plans to roll out the new evening menu in 2,000 of its US locations by 2020.

However, if other major cities oppose plans to begin serving alcohol at local Starbucks locations, it could be a major roadblock for the coffee giant.

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