Marketing in the News Blog

      I was looking on the internet and I found an article about "Starbucks" stating that they are closing 16 US stores for safety issues, including 2 in Portland, OR. I was wondering what this was all about. Apparently, they are having issues with their staff having to deal with safety concerns including drug use and other disruptive behaviors that threaten staff from their customers. The CEO said "this is just the beginning". And I was wondering what is the beginning? According to KOIN, the company will close the Portland Shops downtown at Southwest 4th Avenue and Southwest Morrison and in the Gateway shopping area after July 31.The CEO Howard Schultz announced that more store closures were to come. Starbucks confirmed the footage to Insider but didn't detail which other stores would be on the chopping block next.

    I have seen this first hand when I was at "Starbucks" one day when a person came into the establishment and was cold and gave the cashier 50 cents. He asked if he could have a plain coffee and she told him she would give him a hot chocolate on the house. He sipped his brew and then went out on the side corner and sat down with the cup beside him. I think that he thought he was safe being there because he had their label on his cup. He was still there went I went by, going to the grocery store and was amazed that he was still there without someone ushering him away. I feel bad for the homeless and the mentally challenged but there is only so much each of us can do. It all fell apart when "Fairview" in Salem, shut down their mentally ill facility in 1997. Now these people are on their own. 

   When the closures were announced, a spokesperson told the media that "they were closing some stores in locations that were unsafe to continue to operate due to the high volume of challenging incidents that make it unsafe to operate. They plan to open new locations with safer conditions. They commented that they are facing situations that the stores were not built for. Even though they are making a profit, they are faced with the reality that the employees do not feel safe to handle these everyday occurrences.

    Every decision that "Starbucks" makes has to be viewed through the lens of the company's union-busting campaign but they denied that it was targeting pro-union stores. It then gave the local leaders the authority to close bathrooms, reduce seating, and take other measures in order to keep their employees safer. And when this wasn't enough that they would close their establishment. "Starbucks" also said that the closures are part of a larger effect to respond to employees' concerns and make adjustments to make sure that they are safe and welcoming. Some employees expressed that it was not fair that they were not allowed to be a part of this decision-making and about their working conditions. They thought that "Starbucks" thought they could not handle these situations. Last month, "Starbucks" also closed a unionized store in Ithaca, New York because of operational problems due to an overflowing grease trap. 

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/starbucks-unveils-mental-health-initiatives-for-employees.aspx

https://www.opb.org/article/2022/07/12/starbucks-closing-16-us-stores-for-safety-issues-including-2-in-portland/

    The company also said that restrooms at some stores might be closed if they become a safety hazard. But in 2018, "Starbucks issued a policy allowing anyone to use it's restrooms even if they didn't buy anthing. This decision was made after a "Starbucks" employee refused to let two Black men use the restroom and asked them to leave and the employee called the police. The men were waiting for a business meeting and were arrested, they later reached a settlement with "Starbucks".

    I hope that the employees are now safe and have a voice in the decisions made by executives who do not have to work there each day and have to make decisions on their own to protect their own safety and the companies' reputation.