Updates
September 19, 2022: the sixteen US stores that Starbucks will close. Wow, per capita, closing six in greater Seattle compared to six in greater Los Angeles is simply breath-taking.
If this really is a safety / crime issue, it speaks volumes about Seattle. Compared to Los Angeles, Seattle is a back-water, trivial pueblo. If I were to visit Los Angeles today, it is completely unlikely that I would come anywhere near to any neighborhood where these six Starbucks are going to close. On the other hand, I would very likely be in three or four of those neighborhoods in Seattle. Same holds true for Portland.
Geographic size:
- greater Los Angeles: 34,000 square miles
- Seattle: 84 square miles
- Portland: 145 square miles
Where the sixteen Starbucks restaurants slated for closing are located:
- six in greater Los Angeles
- six in greater Seattle
- two in Portland, OR
- one in Philadelphia
- one in DC
Original Post
Pre-Covid I was at Starbucks every weekday working on the blog.
Since March, 2020, I have not gone to my local Starbucks even once. I have gone to out-of-town Starbucks on two occasions in the past six months, associated with my cross-country trip to Montana. It's still a great experience, but at home, the Starbucks K-pod at home is costing me less than 50 cents for a cup of coffee. At Starbucks, my average expenditure was $4.00 and several hundred calories (chocolate croissant). At home, I never, never have a chocolate croissant; I have oatmeal.
I see that Starbucks is now starting to close stores in high-crime areas. Link:
- https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/starbucks-makes-good-promise-close-more-stores-crime-rages-new-orleans.
From the linked article:
A popular Starbucks location in New Orleans will close next month due to safety concerns, just weeks after Starbucks' top executive said crime will force stores across the country to close.
The Canal Street Starbucks location has been in operation for nine years. It will officially close on October 3, 2022.
Starbucks officials announced in July that 16 stores across the country were closing due to safety concerns.
On a separate note, at least one Starbucks restaurant has now unionized and apparently a second store is considering doing the same.
My hunch is that Starbucks management is getting ahead of this union move, and will use "we-need-to-close-this-store-for-safety-reasons" rationale for closing other Starbucks for "other" unstated reasons.
The NLRB can investigate but it's hard to argue against closing a store where customers and employees are at risk for their own safety.
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