Starbucks closes two stores in Portland

(JULY 15, 2022) People sometimes joke that there is a Starbucks on every street corner. For a while, that might have seemed true. Now, instead of opening more stores, Starbucks is closing 16 stores around the country. This includes two in Portland.

Why is Starbucks closing stores? Is it because of the pandemic? Is it because of the economy? Starbucks says it is because of repeated safety issues. This includes disruptive behaviors that threaten staff, according to news stories from Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB). Those disruptive behaviors come from problems such as drug use and a growing mental health crisis.

Debbie Stroud and Denise Nelson are leaders at Starbucks. They wrote a letter to employees. They wrote, “We know these challenges can, at times, play out within our stores too. We read every incident report you file -- it’s a lot."

Starbucks will close one store in downtown Portland. It will close another store in the Gateway shopping area in Northeast Portland. The stores will close after July 31.

The closures come at the same time when many Starbucks employees want to start labor unions. According to Cambridge Learners' Dictionary, a labor union is "an organization that represents people who do a particular job." It helps employees have safe workplaces and receive fair wages. It protects employees from discrimination. More than 189 Starbucks stores in the U.S. have voted to create unions since last year.

Starbucks do not want the labor unions. However, they said the decision to close stores was not connected to the union issue. “Opening and closing stores is part of our business operations,” said Starbucks. “This is really rooted in safe and welcoming stores.” According to OPB news, U.S. labor law does not stop Starbucks from closing stores for business reasons. But it cannot close a store to fight against unions.

Starbucks says it is changing stores to make them safer. This includes moving furniture, testing alarms, and connecting employees with local organizations that serve people who are homeless, mentally ill, or abusing drugs. The company might also close its restrooms. This is opposite what it said in 2018. Then the company promised to keep restrooms open to anyone. According to OPB, "That decision was made after a Starbucks employee called police to report two Black men who were denied the use of a restroom and asked to leave. The men, who were in Starbucks waiting for a business meeting, were arrested; they later reached a settlement with Starbucks."

After the closures, there will still be 80 Starbucks stores in Portland.