Well, this is sad news but sadly I can't say that I'm surprised in light of how much things have changed in many areas since the Pandemic shut down ;/ Reports say Starbucks has announced that they are closing six Los Angeles area stores, out of concern about employee safety. The concerns cited at some stores include 'drug use and a growing mental health crisis'. The company also recently announced a new initiative to focus on employee safety, including plans to close restrooms, modify store layouts and improve security systems.
And in some cases, company officials said, that means closing stores permanently where "safety ... is no longer possible."
The locations of the Los Angeles-area stores that will close are:
- Santa Monica & Westmount, West Hollywood
- Hollywood & Western, Los Angeles
- 1st & Los Angeles (Doubletree), Los Angeles
- Hollywood & Vine, Hollywood
- Ocean Front Walk & Moss, Santa Monica
- 2nd & San Pedro, downtown Los Angeles
According to ABC7, in addition to the six in Los Angeles, the coffee giant is closing six stores in its hometown of Seattle, two in Portland, Oregon and one each in Philadelphia and Washington. Starbucks said employees at those stores will be given the opportunity to transfer to other stores. SO SAD!
Find out more here.
Also if you check out the hashtag #Starbucks on Twitter, you also see a lot of posts from folks who think the closures are really about Starbucks dodging the pressure to unionize...what do you think?