Starbucks Starbucks, along with its partner Delek Group of Israel, closed all six of its locations in Israel, citing "on-going operational challenges" and a "difficult business environment." The Starbucks location in the former imperial palace in Beijing closed in July 2007. The coffee shop had been a source of ongoing controversy since its opening in 2000 with protesters objecting that the presence of the American chain in this location "was trampling on Chinese culture." In July 2008, the company announced it was closing 600 underperforming company-owned stores and cutting U.S. expansion plans amid growing economic uncertainty. On July 29, 2008, Starbucks
Open-chain compound branched-chain isomers. The lowercase prefix "n-" denotes the straight-chain isomer; for example, "n"-butane is straight-chain butane, whereas "i"-butane is isobutane. Cycloalkanes are isomers of alkenes, not of alkanes, because the ring's closure involves a C=C bond. Having no rings (aromatic or otherwise), all open-chain compounds are aliphatic. Typically in biochemistry, some isomers are more prevalent than others. For example, in living organisms, the open-chain isomer of glucose usually exists only transiently, in small amounts; D-glucose is the usual isomer; and L-glucose is rare. Straight-chain molecules are often not literally straight, in the sense that their bond angles are often not