SEATTLE -- Computer systems at Starbucks in the U.S. and Canada went down around 4 p.m. on Friday.
The company said Friday evening that its stores that had not already closed for the evening were closing early due to the computer outage. Starbucks has since said the outage has been resolved and stores are expected to open normally on Saturday.
Earlier Friday evening when the computer issues had started, drinks were free, and the wait for drinks at the Pike Place location was about 30 minutes. Few people seemed to care, considering their drinks cost nothing.
"I could not believe it! People were asking for some very exciting flavors," exclaimed Lillian Avaria.
Those flavors made tourists love Seattle even more, though Hao Zhang wasn't sure what flavor he got. Visiting from Denver, he just ordered a large - of anything.
"Yea, I don't know," he laughed. "But it tastes good. Really good."
Company spokesman Jim Olson says the problem affected 7,000 U.S. stores and 1,000 in Canada.
Earlier, customers found some stores closed and others offering free coffee.
A failure during a daily system refresh shut down the coffee giant's point-of-sale systems at locations, according to a news release from Starbucks.
The outage also effected Evolution Fresh and Teavana stores, according to the company.
KING 5 confirmed that computers were down at a store on Westlake in Seattle.
Customers celebrated by tweeting out pictures of their free drinks.
One woman tweeted that she got a free drink at the first Starbucks at Pike Place Market in Seattle.
