By The FirstGlobal coffee chain Starbucks confirmed this week their plan to shutter at least 16 stores across America due to “safety concerns” for staffers and customers.
The shops are frequently used by homeless people, drug addicts, and other non-customers for access to bathroom sinks and toilets.
“After careful consideration, we are closing some stores in locations that have experienced a high volume of challenging incidents that make it unsafe to continue to operate,” a spokesperson told CNN Business in an email.
The stores are located in: Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Portland, Oregon.
“Employees are seeing firsthand the challenges facing our communities — personal safety, racism, lack of access to healthcare, a growing mental health crisis, rising drug use, and more,” wrote the company, adding “with stores in thousands of communities across the country, we know these challenges can, at times, play out within our stores too.”
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