NEW ORLEANS - Starbucks is closing its flagship New Orleans location permanently in October, and the chain said it's due to security and safety concerns. 

According to NOLA.com, spokesman Sam Jefferies said in a statement that the brand made an effort to work with local leaders and "be flexible" in using different methods to make the area safer, but if that didn't work, then the brand would have to consider closures. 

"That is what we had to do in this instance," Jefferies said, according to NOLA.com. "This is certainly, unfortunately, a high-incident store."

NOLA.com reports that shootings along Canal Street, where the Starbucks is located, are not uncommon, citing at least 11 shootings in the area in the last two years.