Starbucks Closing 16 Stores Due to Crime

Starbucks (Seattle) says it will close 16 stores due to concerns about employee safety, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Among the closing stores: six are in Seattle, six in Los Angeles, two in Portland, Ore., one in Philadelphia and one in Washington D.C. Employees at these locations have reportedly expressed concerns about increased assaults, theft and drug use in and around each store.

Starbucks has said that employees at these locations will have the option to transfer to another location. Some employees have reportedly said that Starbucks should have included employees’ voices more in the decision to close these stores.

The company will also be giving managers at any location permission to close bathrooms, limit seating and slow down service in case of safety concerns. Starbucks claims it will be giving employees additional resources to deal with possible conflict or even active shooter scenarios.

Outside of this, some Starbucks locations have already been asking to unionize or have already voted to do so. This included two Seattle locations that are closing down, which had already unionized.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal.