Due to safety concerns, Starbucks will be permanently closing 16 of its locations
Starbucks is the place where most of us go to buy coffee. If you are a regular at Starbucks, the baristas may recognise you by name and know exactly what you want before you even say it.
Unfortunately, it appears that Starbucks has made an unexpected decision due to a high number of safety issues at certain of its locations. We are permanently closing 16 Starbucks locations, including those in Portland and Philadelphia.
“Seeing firsthand the challenges facing our communities – including personal safety, racism, a lack of access to health care, an expanding mental health crisis, rising drug use, and more,” Starbucks senior vice presidents Debbie Stroud and Denise Nelson explained in a letter to the company’s partners in the United States. We are aware that these issues can arise in our stores as well, as we have locations in more than a thousand areas around the country. There is a lot of work involved in reviewing each and every incident report that you submit.” Additionally, they said, “we cannot serve as partners if we do not first feel safe at work.”
To guarantee the safety of its partners, the letter says that they will provide safety training and mental health support. This includes locking down a restroom or perhaps closing the store completely as part of the safety steps.
According to a Starbucks representative on CNN Business, “after careful consideration, we are closing some stores in locations that have experienced a high volume of challenging incidents that make it unsafe to continue operating.” Starbucks spokesperson
Those who work at the closed Starbucks outlets will be relocated to open ones nearby.