After Racial Discrimination Incident, Starbucks Will Close All Stores for Racial Bias Education on May 29

In the wake of an incident involving racial discrimination that went viral online over the last week, Starbucks has announced plans to close all 8,000 of its stores for the afternoon of May 29 to conduct racial-bias education training for nearly 175,000 employees.

The arrest of two black men in a Philadelphia Starbucks has led to national outrage and widespread protests, both at the store where the incident occurred, and online with many calling for a boycott. And, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Commission on Human relations is looking into other incidents of racial discrimination at the same Starbucks store.

The following video, posted on Twitter, has now been viewed more than 10 million times.

@Starbucks The police were called because these men hadnt ordered anything. They were waiting for a friend to show up, who did as they were taken out in handcuffs for doing nothing. All the other white ppl are wondering why its never happened to us when we do the same thing. pic.twitter.com/0U4Pzs55Ci

Melissa DePino (@missydepino) April 12, 2018

After a statement Saturday, which many criticized, CEO Kevin Johnson was interviewed by Robin Roberts on ABC’s Good Morning America, where he apologized for what happened, calling the actions taken by the store manager, who called 911 on the two individuals, “reprehensible.”

This latest announcement means that all of Starbucks’ U.S. stores and its corporate offices will be closed for the afternoon of May 29 for a company-wide training program “designed to address designed to address implicit bias, promote conscious inclusion, prevent discrimination and ensure everyone inside a Starbucks store feels safe and welcome.”

“The company’s founding values are based on humanity and inclusion,” said executive chairman Howard Schultz in his first public comments on the matter. “We will learn from our mistakes and reaffirm our commitment to creating a safe and welcoming environment for every customer.”

See the full release from Starbucks below, and check back at seattlebusinessmag.com for more of our coverage of this news:

Starbucks to Close All Stores Nationwide for Racial-Bias Education on May 29

Training will occur at all Starbucks company-owned stores and will apply to nearly 175,000 U.S. partners (employees)

Curriculum to be designed by nationally recognized experts and will be available for other companies to use

PHILADELPHIA (APRIL 17, 2018) Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX) today announced it will be closing its more than 8,000 company-owned stores in the United States on the afternoon of May 29 to conduct racial-bias education geared toward preventing discrimination in our stores. The training will be provided to nearly 175,000 partners (employees) across the country, and will become part of the onboarding process for new partners.

Ive 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, said Starbucks ceo Kevin Johnson. While this is not limited to Starbucks, were committed to being a part of the solution. Closing our stores for racial bias training is just one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our company and partnerships in our local communities.

All Starbucks company-owned retail stores and corporate offices will be closed in the afternoon of Tuesday, May 29. During that time, partners will go through a training program designed to address implicit bias, promote conscious inclusion, prevent discrimination and ensure everyone inside a Starbucks store feels safe and welcome.

“The company’s founding values are based on humanity and inclusion,” said executive chairman Howard Schultz, who joined Johnson and other senior Starbucks leaders in Philadelphia to meet with community leaders and Starbucks partners. “We will learn from our mistakes and reaffirm our commitment to creating a safe and welcoming environment for every customer.”

The curriculum will be developed with guidance from several national and local experts confronting racial bias, including Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative; Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; Heather McGhee, president of Demos; former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder; and Jonathan Greenblatt, ceo of the Anti-Defamation League. Starbucks will involve these experts in monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of the measures we undertake.

Earlier this week, Starbucks began a review of its training and practices to make important reforms where necessary to ensure our stores always represent our Mission and Values, by providing a safe and inclusive environment for our customers and partners.

Once completed, the company will make the education materials available to other companies, including our licensee partners, for use with their employees and leadership.