Starbucks to close stores for afternoon of racial-bias training

Starbucks will close all its company-owned stores in the U.S. during the afternoon of May 29 in order to give racial-bias training to employees, an outgrowth of the incident involving two black men at one of its coffee shops in Philadelphia last week.

The anti-discrimination instruction is “designed to address implicit bias, promote conscious inclusion, prevent discrimination and ensure everyone inside a Starbucks store feels safe and welcome,” according to the company announcement made Tuesday.

The Seattle-based chain has come under fire after staff at one of its Philadelphia locations called the police on two black men when they didn’t buy anything and asked to use the restroom. The men were told restrooms were only for paying customers; the men explained they were waiting for a friend, who later arrived. Police arrested them, though prosecutors didn’t press charges.

Starbucks’ CEO apologized for Thursday’s incident, and on Monday the coffee giant confirmed that the Philadelphia employee who called police is no longer with the company.

There are more than 8,000 company-owned Starbucks restaurants in the country, employing close to 175,000 people, the company said.

“While this is not limited to Starbucks, we’re committed to being a part of the solution,” CEO Kevin Johnson said.