Let anyone use restroom, Starbucks workers told
NEW YORK: Starbucks has told employees to let anyone use the restroom, even if they have not bought anything, as it reviews its policies and tries to restore its reputation after the arrest of two black men at a coffeeshop in Philadelphia.
The coffee chain said it wants all customers who come in “to feel welcome” and is conducting a threemonth review of its guidelines.
That follows comments from Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz that he did not want people to feel “less than” if they were refused access.
“We don’t want to become a public bathroom, but we’re going to make the right decision 100% of the time and give people the key,” he said.
The arrests in Philadelphia were a major embarrassment for Starbucks, which has long projected itself as a socially conscious company and has promoted its stores as a place for people to gather outside of their homes and offices.
Schultz said Starbucks had maintained a “loose policy” on bathroom access, though decisions were ultimately left up to store managers on whether someone could use them.
At the Philadelphia store where the two men were arrested on April 12, it was policy to ask people who had not bought anything to leave.
The men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, were asked to leave after one was denied access to the bathroom. They were arrested by police minutes after they sat down to await a business meeting they had scheduled.