Although we realize we could make coffee at home, many of us go to Starbucks because we love the experience and it gets our day started on the right foot. More than likely, we even know the people at the local Starbucks because we stop by there so regularly.
If there’s one thing that we know about the world around us, however, it’s the fact that things change and it seems as if Starbucks is changing in some locations.
In fact, they will be shutting down 16 of their locations in cities such as Washington DC, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Portland due to safety concerns.
The senior vice presidents of US operations at Starbucks, Debbie Stroud and Denise Nelson wrote a letter to their partners, talking about some of the challenges that are facing those communities. They include: “personal safety, racism, lack of access to healthcare, a growing mental health crisis, rising drug use, and more.”
The letter went on to say: “With stores in thousands of communities across the country, we know these challenges can, at times, play out within our stores too. We read every incident report you file – it’s a lot… we cannot serve as partners if we don’t first feel safe at work.”
It seems as if they are going to put certain things in place to make sure that their partners are as safe as possible. This includes providing mental health support and safety training, as well as some practical measures, such as “modifying operations, closing a restroom, or even closing a store permanently.”
According to CNN Business, a Starbucks spokesperson spoke about how they were closing some stores in locations where a “high volume of challenging incidents that make it unsafe to continue to operate” were experienced.
The employees who are affected by those closures will be moved to a Starbucks location near that area that will stay open.