Starbucks will close about 8,000 company-owned stores Tuesday afternoon while 175,000 employees undergo a mandatory anti-bias training.
Most of Starbucks‘ 7,000 licensed stores, including those operated by hotels, grocery stores and airports, should be open. Participating stores will close around 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. local time.
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The coffee giant announced the training soon after two black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks in April. A store manager called the police because the men were sitting in the store without placing an order. They were arrested for trespassing. The men, who had previously asked for the code needed to gain access to the store’s restroom, said they were waiting for a friend.
The incident sparked an outcry, causing CEO Kevin Johnson to swiftly apologize and promise to make sure that nothing like that would happen again at Starbucks.
As far as the anti-bias training that employees will undergo, plans for the afternoon are elaborate. Workers at each location will break into small groups to learn together. Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, Johnson and musician and activist Common will serve as virtual guides. Employees will talk about their own experiences, and watch a film about bias.
Each store will get a tool kid to help guide the trainings, the company explained. Tuesday’s session will focus on understanding both racial bias and the history of racial discrimination in public spaces in the United States.
The company has also changed its policy to allow people to use Starbucks’ restrooms and spend time in stores, even if they don’t make any purchases. There are limits, however, and employees will still have to use their own discretion. The coffee chain is asking customers to behave in a way that “maintains a warm and welcoming environment.” If customers are disruptive, employees have been advised to step in.
CNN Money reports that workers have been given specific guidelines by the company that lists inappropriate behaviors where employees should step in. The list of inappropriate behaviors includes smoking, using drugs or alcohol, sleeping or improperly using the restroom. Starbucks added that if employees see customers who are unreasonably loud, watching something inappropriate on a personal device or disrupting others with their personal hygiene, they should also step in.
Starbucks management received a version of the bias training this week, Sherrilyn Ifill, the president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund told CNN. Ifill acted as an unpaid adviser to Starbucks and told CNN that the plan is ambitious.
More trainings will follow, although it’s unclear if stores will close for those sessions again. Ifill and her fellow unpaid adviser, Heather McGhee, the president of the public policy organization Demos, will issue a report outlining a comprehensive set of issues they believe the company must address.
They said they hope Starbucks will incorporate anti-bias training into its employee onboarding process to make sure that every employee is trained.
