A prominent Starbucks location in downtown Toronto has closed "as a normal part of doing business," according to the company, but regular customers are confused.

First and foremost, it was a popular coffee shop (though not the best). The Starbucks at 167 Church Street, right on the southeast corner of Church and Shuter, always seemed to be bumping with people.

Secondly, it closed in a flash — so fast that it prompted one local to email us and ask what happened.

"I walked past the location 12 hours after it had closed," wrote Jean-Paul Bédard by email. "All the outside branding had been removed and the entire inside of the store was stripped bare!"

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🚫☕️. 😭My local Starbucks is GONE. We had our #sotw #janfam meeting here! #Starbucks #starbuckscanada

A post shared by Don N (@djnewton7) on Sep 17, 2018 at 3:20pm PDT

Bédard says that staff members were made aware of the closure one week in advance and that they were "all asked to sign NDAs telling them not to alert any customers about the impending closure."

The NDAs have not been confirmed, but Starbucks Canada spokesperson Tim Gallant says that the chain's location at 167 Church Street is indeed closed for good.

"Our customers mean the world to us and we will be happy to welcome them at nearby Starbucks locations," he said by email this week. "I'm happy to let you know that every partner in this store has been offered a transfer to a nearby store."

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Day 8 of my #selflovejourney : today I spent working at my old store in Toronto. I was surrounded by the most amazing team and we had a brilliant morning just laughing away. I went and saw my old coworkers who are now some of the closest people in my life to me. I waited for Cam to finish work and just reflected on how much growth I have achieved in this area. This store has been the place where I’ve almost died, cried with laughter, made amazing memories and grown as a person. I guess everything does happen for a reason and all the years I spent here in this store have added up, today I was shown that. #starbucks #tobeapartner #toronto #memories #selflove #selfreflection

A post shared by @ therealkatdashian on Jul 27, 2018 at 5:12pm PDT

As far as reasons go, Gallant only said that Starbucks considers "several factors" when deciding which locations to close.

"We continue to experience high growth across Toronto and are proud of our success," he said. "As a normal part of doing business, every year we open many new stores, we close some and relocate a few others."

Could this abrupt closure have anything to do with the massive condo building Menkes is building across from 167 Shuter Street? Construction cranes were only moved into place at the end of August, after all.

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Regardless, disappointed regulars can still get their frappuccino fix at any one of the five other Starbucks locations in the immediate vicinity.