Starbucks has announced it will close all of its 8,000 company-owned stores on Tuesday afternoon, May 29 for racial bias education.
Starbucks has announced it will close all of its 8,000 company-owned stores on Tuesday afternoon, May 29 for racial bias education.
The training will be provided to nearly 175,000 of its employees across the country, and will become part of the onboarding process for new partners.
Starbucks has 20 stores in the Rio Grande Valley including three in Harlingen and another three in Brownsville. It also has a store in Matamoros and a store in Reynosa.
The coffee giant made the announcement today in a press release. It follows outrage against the company following the arrest of two African-American men at one of its stores in Seattle.
The men were awaiting the arrival of a third man for a business meeting. An employee said the African-American men were trespassing and called police. The men were arrested and released about eight hours later.
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, called the arrests a “reprehensible outcome.” According to a Starbucks press release, Johnson has “constructive discussions”with the men.
