Starbucks Closes 16 Stores Due To Drug Use In Bathrooms

Starbucks has announced they are closing 16 stores due to the uptick in drug use in the coffee shops’ bathrooms.

Most of the 16 stores are located in Democrat-controlled cities such as Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadephia, and Washington DC.

A Spokesperson for the franchise would cite the reason for the 16 shops being closed is due to drug use and violence that have occurred at these particular Starbucks

Back in 2018 employees at Starbucks started a petition to force the chain to put syringe boxes inside the coffee shop’s bathrooms after several employees were reportedly poked by needles while taking out the trash.

JUST IN – Starbucks is closing 16 U.S. stores over drug use and crime concerns in cafes, WSJ reports.

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 12, 2022

Starbucks Closing 16 Stores In Major Cities Due To 'Increasing Threats' From Bathroom Drug Dens https://t.co/NUoMcv7d4S

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 12, 2022

Komo News had these details to add:

Higher crime rates and safety concerns have prompted Starbucks to close several of its coffee shops in Seattle and Everett, the company said Monday.

Five stores in Seattle are slated to close their doors, including prominent locations in the Central District, Westlake Center, Capitol Hill, Roosevelt and Union Station, with a total of 16 shops around the U.S. slated to shut down by July 31.

Starbucks says the stores were chosen based on their level of crime and whether crime rates could be lowered.

Each location has seen its own share of issues that range from vandalism to arson and destruction. The prominent Starbucks stores at Westlake Center and Capitol Hill, both of which are slated to close, were constantly targeted during the ongoing riots that flared in 2020 in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis.

Neighbors and businesses said it’s not just Starbucks dealing with safety issues.

One of the Starbucks closing is at Union Station next door to a Pete’s Coffee shop that closed, and just feet away from the light rail station where a woman was violently and randomly attack just months ago.

“It’s unfortunate. Seattle is a beautiful city everything about Seattle is wonderful, except the crime that goes unchecked and you start to feel unsafe,” said Serena Law, who lives in the neighborhood. “I carry a knife just in case I need it. Whether you’re on the bus, there’s something happening, whether you’re walking down the street, there’s something happening. It’s terrifying honestly.”

Starbucks is installing syringe disposal boxes in some of its bathrooms after drug paraphernalia has put employees at risk pic.twitter.com/bNE16HWWZ1

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) January 12, 2019

Zero Hedge reported these details:

Four weeks ago, Starbucks CEO Howard Schutz told the NY Times that the company was assessing increasing threats to public safety over it’s “all inclusive” 2018 bathroom policy that encouraged homeless people and drug addicts to make copious use.

Now, the company is now shuttering 16 locations in major cities over incidents related to drug use and ‘other disruptions’ in its cafes, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The company on Monday announced that it would be permanently closing six stores each in Seattle and Los Angeles, as well as two in Portland, OR, and single locations in Philadelphia and Washington DC by the end of the month.

The move comes after workers reported incidents involving drug use by customers and members of the public – which, logically, comes after the company’s 2018 virtue signaling campaign which eventually included the installation of needle deposit boxes at various locations after employees signed a petition demanding the company do more to protect them.

“We read every incident report you file—it’s a lot,” wrote operations leads Debbie Stroud and Denise Nelson in a message to U.S. employees Monday. “We cannot serve as partners if we don’t first feel safe at work.” (Starbucks refers to its employees as ‘partners’)