starbucks According to the company, it will close 16 US stores by the end of July due to security concerns, mostly in the West Coast. Most of the stores closing are in the Los Angeles and Seattle metro areas.
“We have had to make the difficult decision to close certain locations where there is a particularly high volume of challenging incidents that make it unsafe to operate,” a Starbucks spokesperson told CNBC.
The map below shows six stores in California and six in Washington state that will be closing. The coffee chain will also close two stores in Portland, Oregon, one in Philadelphia and another in Washington, DC, for security.
‘We can’t work as partners if we don’t feel safe in the first place’
Concern about store security was the main consideration a letter to employees Published Monday from Debbie Stroud and Dennis Nelson, two senior vice presidents of US operations at the coffee chain. The letter cited several social distancing concerns, including an increase in violence and drug use, which could affect operations at the stores.
“We know these challenges can sometimes occur in our stores. We read every incident report you file – that’s a lot,” the letter said. “Simply put, we can’t work as partners if we don’t feel safe at work in the first place.”
The closures come at a unique time for Starbucks as more of its stores vote to unionize: More than 100 Workers in a store in Buffalo, New York, since the coffee chain’s 9,000 US stores became the first To join a union at the end of 2021.
Seattle’s 505 Union Station, one of 16 stores being closed, also voted to join Starbucks Workers United — a fact the union tweeted after the announcement.
Property Crime in Seattle and Los Angeles
The unions were not mentioned in Starbucks’ letter to employees about safety, and focused only on safety concerns, however, Starbucks executives have said the closure stems from safety concerns.
And crime data from Seattle and Los Angeles support those concerns. Property crimes, which include car theft, burglary and theft, and violent robbery in Seattle, are up nearly 20% for the first five months of 2022 compared to the same period a year ago, According to the Seattle Police Department,
In Los Angeles, this type of crime increased by more than 14% in the city for the first six months of 2022 compared to the same period last year, According to the Los Angeles Police Department,
In West Hollywood, however, those figures are much higher: property crime and violent robbery more than doubled in 2022 from 2021, According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff,
Read the full list of stores that Starbucks will close below: