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Starbucks Scraps Open-Door Policy After Safety Concerns Forced Closures

Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Starbucks is reversing its 2018 policy that allowed anyone to sit in its cafes or use its restrooms even if they did not buy anything. The Associated Press reports the coffee titan is now requiring those who use their facilities to be paying customers as part of Starbucks’ way to “prioritize” patrons and have a “clear set of rules.”

Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson said, “We want everyone to feel welcome and comfortable in our stores,” adding, “By setting clear expectations for behavior and use of our spaces, we can create a better environment for everyone.”

The new code of conduct will be posted in all company-owned North American stores, warning violators that they will be asked to leave and that law enforcement may be called in to assist if necessary. The code of conduct also “bans discrimination or harassment, consumption of outside alcohol, smoking, vaping, drug use and panhandling.”

Anderson defended the decision pointing out that most other retailers have similar rules in place.

The change comes as Starbucks employees and customers have reportedly been struggling with “unruly” and “dangerous” behavior, leading to the closure of 16 stores around the country because of safety concerns, including in Los Angeles and the company’s hometown of Seattle. Among the problems the storefronts faced were reportedly drug use and “disruptive behaviors that threatened staff.”

In July 2022, the New York Post reported that Starbucks closed down 16 of their locations after managers reported a surge in crime including assaults, thefts, and drug use in and around each location. In response, at the time, the company reportedly gave managers the discretion to deny free access to the storefront’s restrooms. Then-CEO Howard Schultz said that the company was “rethinking” its “open bathroom” policy because of the growing safety concerns, but the decision to end the policy did not come until now when Starbucks’ new chairman and CEO Brian Niccol made the move.

According to the AP, Niccol said that decision came amid struggling sales, and was also a move to “recapture the community coffeehouse feeling” Starbucks intended to have and did when it first opened. However, long drive-thru lines and mobile order backups have made visits to the coffeehouse feel more of a “chore” than an opportunity to enjoy an inviting cup of coffee in a warm, relaxed environment.

The 2018 open-door, open-bathroom policy was implemented “after two Black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks where they had gone for a business meeting. The individual store had a policy of asking non-paying customers to leave, and the men hadn’t bought anything. But the arrest, which was caught on video, was a major embarrassment for the company,” according to the AP.

At the time, Shultz said that he did not want Starbucks to “become a public bathroom,” but added that he did not want “people to feel ‘less than’ if they were refused access.”

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