Starbucks to close all US stores for racial bias training - Financial Times

April 17, 2018

Starbucks to close all US stores for racial bias training
Session for 175,000 staff comes after arrest of two black men at Philadelphia store

Starbucks’ ‘Race Together’ campaign in 2015 was an effort to spur a discussion about race, after the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri © AP

Jennifer Bissell-Linsk, Jessica Dye and Anna Nicolaou in New York 14 HOURS AGO Print this page65
Starbucks plans to shut more than 8,000 of its US stores on the afternoon of May 29 to conduct racial-bias education for its employees, as the company grapples with the backlash over the arrest of two black men at one of its Philadelphia stores.

The move comes as Starbucks, which has prided itself as a champion of progressive values, has been slammed by activists for failing to respond adequately to the incident — in which a barista called the police after two black men sat at a table without ordering. The men were arrested for trespassing.

Starbucks said the training would be provided to nearly 175,000 employees across the US and is aimed at preventing discrimination in its stores. The programme will also be part of the training process for all new hires.

The scandal is one of the first big tests for Kevin Johnson, chief executive, who took over from Howard Schultz last year and has looked to maintain the coffee giant’s brand with consumers.

This one day is great. But what else are they going to do to make sure it never happens again?

Former Starbucks barista
Mr Johnson said on Tuesday: “I’ve 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. While this is not limited to Starbucks, we’re committed to being a part of the solution.”

Speaking separately on CNN, Mr Johnson said: “It’s an emotional learning experience and I take it personally . . . I’m going to fix it.”

The incident has sparked outrage on social media, inspiring a #boycottstarbucks hashtag on Twitter. Kevin Hart, the black comedian and actor, on Monday called out Mr Johnson for not taking the incident seriously enough in an interview with Good Morning America.

“This really makes me sad . . . Starbucks had a platform and a real opportunity [on Good Morning America] to fix that situation correctly by calling it exactly what it was which was racial profiling/discrimination by the on duty manager. YOU FAILED,” he wrote on Twitter.

Arness Sanders, a supervisor at Gregorys Coffee in New York and a former Starbucks barista, said he was surprised at the incident in Philadelphia and never would have called the police on a potential customer.

“It’s extreme, I wouldn’t have thought that is the best route,” he said, referring back to previous diversity trainings he had at Starbucks. “Values are lost over time. But this one-day [training] should re-establish prior values.”

As a black man, Mr Sanders said he hoped the company would stress awareness of unconscious bias more in its training, saying he doubted the police would have been called on anyone except a black man.

“This one day is great,” he added. “But what else are they going to do to make sure it never happens again?”

Starbucks said that the training programme would “address implicit bias, promote conscious inclusion, prevent discrimination and ensure everyone inside a Starbucks store feels safe and welcome”.

Carreen Winters, chief strategy officer at MWWPR, a public affairs agency, said the announcement of the company-wide shutdown should help reinforce Starbucks’ reputation.

“Chipotle closed all of its stores for food safety training in the wake of serious health issues. Starbucks is signalling that racism is as important as food safety.”

The coffee chain, under Mr Schultz, has for years looked to fight for social justice issues — but has misfired over race and marketing in the past. Starbucks in 2015 attached “Race Together” stickers to customers’ cups in an effort to spur a discussion about race, following the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.

The strategy was met with a backlash on social media, with users suggesting faux slogans for the chain such as: “Some of my best friends are black coffee” and “tea shall overcome”.

Shares in Starbucks were up 0.7 per cent on Tuesday.

Additional reporting by Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson