SAN ANTONIO – Starbucks officials announced Tuesday that the chain will be closing its more than 8,000 company-owned stores for one afternoon on May 29 to educate employees on discrimination prevention.
The single-day closing comes on the heels of a viral video that shows two black men being arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks location, allegedly for trespassing.
The men were released when Starbucks didn’t press charges, and Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson also spoke about the incident, calling it “reprehensible.”
“I’ve spent the last few days in Philadelphia with my leadership team listening to the community, learning what we did wrong and the steps we need to take to fix it,” Johnson continued.
A video of black men being arrested at Starbucks. Three very different reactions.
Franchise Starbucks locations aren’t being required to close, but company-owned retail stores and corporate offices will be closed on the afternoon of May 29.
Once the training is completed, the company will make the education materials available to other companies, including our licensee partners, for use with their employees and leadership, company officials shared in a press release.
JUST IN: Starbucks to close more than 8,000 company-owned stores in the U.S. on May 29 "to conduct racial-bias education geared toward preventing discrimination in our stores." https://t.co/3Nj5JCUawz pic.twitter.com/JLIWxcwgAo
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