In Biden’s America, crime has gotten so bad in some major urban areas that Starbucks is closing its stores out of concern for customer and employee safety. On Monday, CEO Howard Schultz sent a letter to employees explaining the decision. Sixteen stores will close due to the number of incidents reported by workers related to drug use and other disruptions in cafes.
Schultz returned to the position of CEO for the third time earlier this year. It has been a time of upheaval for the company. Employees don’t feel safe in some locations. You can probably guess which urban areas will be the first to have stores closed down. All of them are cities run by Democrats, most with defund the police movements.
Starbucks said it would permanently close six stores each in the Seattle and Los Angeles areas, two in Portland, Ore., and single locations in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. by the end of the month.
The company said it received reports from workers about incidents that they said involved drug use by some customers and in some cases, members of the public, in certain locations. Starbucks said it would transfer employees to other locations when it permanently closes the stores.
“We read every incident report you file—it’s a lot,” wrote U.S. operations leads Debbie Stroud and Denise Nelson in a message to U.S. employees Monday. “We cannot serve as partners if we don’t first feel safe at work,” they said, referring to the company’s term for employees.
I mention the defund of the police movement because it has all but destroyed some major urban areas. It is no coincidence that while Democrats in charge of cities want to perform social experiments instead of providing law enforcement to protect and serve the community, crime in those cities soon spirals out of control. That attitude creates an atmosphere where law enforcement and other figures of authority – even the barista at the corner Starbucks – are not respected. Next thing you know, the bathrooms are filled with drug users and customers are robbed for drug money.
Whether you are a fan of Starbucks coffee and that special little burnt flavor that is prevalent in its brewed coffee or not, most coffee drinkers have been happy at one time or another to see a Starbucks sign when the need for a cup hits. Sometimes it is the only option.
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The decision to make bathrooms available to the public will fall on individual managers, it will no longer be a companywide policy. Back in 2018, Schultz made it an official company policy that allowed all guests to use its restrooms whether or not they made a purchase. Everyone was to be treated as a customer. That policy has gone horribly wrong in some locations, apparently, as some people are taking advantage of it, like drug users looking for a place to do their thing. Schultz notes that the stores are not really built for the future.
Managers can continue to change store layouts if needed, including limiting seating to customers, the spokeswoman said. The company said it would provide additional guidance to baristas in how to deal with active shooter scenarios and conflict de-escalation at work.
Starbucks said workers reported safety concerns during outreach sessions after interim chief executive Howard Schultz returned to the company earlier this year.
“Like so much of the world right now, the Starbucks business as it is built today is not set up to fully satisfy the evolving behaviors, needs and expectations of our partners or customers,” Mr. Schultz wrote in a letter to employees Monday.
Some Starbucks locations have voted to unionize but that number remains small. Some stores have rejected unionization. Two of the Seattle stores that are closing are unionized. One store in Portland has petitioned to unionize. The National Labor Relations Board has certified unions at 133 stores. Starbucks has about 9,000 locations. We’ll see how the efforts to unionize Starbucks develop. Maybe it will go the way of the bathrooms – it may sound like a good idea but not turn out to be one.
Biden’s America is a dangerous place, especially in urban areas. There is no urgency about law and order. Cities like Chicago remain murder capitols and the southern border is wide open. Americans who are inclined to do bad things feel emboldened to do as they please. News stories are plentiful that show people walking into drug stores or other retail stores and simply loading up their arms or bags and walking back out the door without bothering to pay. They get away with it so it continues. Store employees end up being prosecuted if they defend themselves or their merchandise. In Biden’s America, life has turned ass-backward in many aspects. It’s going to be a long year and a half until November 2024, if bumbling Joe lasts a full term in office.
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