Starbucks CEO Foreshadows ‘Many More’ Café Closures Due To Safety Concerns

Starbucks announced last week it would shutter 16 stores nationwide over crime concerns. Now the company’s leader says the closures are just getting started.

"This is just the beginning. There are going to be many more,” interim CEO Howard Schultz told a group of employees, according to a leaked video posted on Twitter. 

In the video, Schultz said he now understands the primary concern of Starbucks retailers is their own personal safety.

“We then heard the stories that go along with it about what happens in our bathrooms," he said. "The issue of mental illness, the issues of homelessness and the issues of crime.”

He said in the recording America has “become unsafe” and that Starbucks is a “window” into the country, with cafés in every community.

“We are facing things for which the stores were not built,” he said.

Starbucks confirmed the video is authentic, according to Business Insider, but didn't provide further details. 

Last week, Starbucks said it would close six stores in Seattle, another six in Los Angeles, two in Portland, Oregon, and one each in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The closures came following worker reports of people using drugs in the bathrooms, the company said, adding the decision was made so employees can feel safe at work.

Schultz said earlier this year he was unsure if the company could keep its open-restroom policy because of the issues it was facing. The company has allowed anyone to use its store bathrooms for the last four years after two Black men were arrested in a store in Philadelphia.

But Starbucks has said store managers will now be able to limit seating in cafés and close restrooms if they choose. Baristas will also receive more guidance on how to deal with active shooters, according to the company.