Starbucks says it will close two Portland stores over concerns for the safety of workers and customers.
The Fortune 500 coffee chain plans to shut down its shops at Southwest Fourth Avenue and Morrison Street in downtown Portland and at the Gateway Shopping Center in east Portland.
In total, 16 Starbucks locations around the U.S. are expected to close by July 31, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“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, to open new locations with safer conditions,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in an email.
The company said it received reports from workers about incidents that they said involved drug use, theft and assault in certain locations.
In a memo to employees Monday, Denise Nielsen and Debbie Stroud, both senior vice presidents for U.S. operations, said the changes are in response to “challenges facing [workers] in” and that Starbucks’ top priority is “creating a safe, welcoming, and kind third place.”
“Simply put, we cannot serve as partners if we don’t first feel safe at work,” they said, referring to the company’s term for its employees.
Workers at the stores that are closing can ask to be transferred to neighboring stores, the company said.
The closure decisions come as Starbucks works to ”reinvent” the customer experience under interim CEO Howard Schultz — and as employees across the country vote to unionize.
Meanwhile, the nationwide campaign among the chain’s employees has been growing.
The National Labor Relations Board has certified unions at more than 189 Starbucks stores across the U.S. since late last year. Elections are underway at dozens of additional stores, where employees are seeking better safety protections, health benefits and higher pay.
Amid the union wave, Starbucks announced increased wages and new benefits that will only be implemented at nonunion stores. Schultz said he would spend more time with employees to listen to their concerns and gather feedback.
In the Portland metro, 12 stores have successfully organized to form a union, with the latest election held on July 8 at the Clackamas Town Center Starbucks in Happy Valley, where workers voted 13-0 to organize.
During its most recent fiscal year that ended in October 2021, Starbucks closed or consolidated 424 U.S. stores, or about 5% of its total, while opening 449 new locations.
The net increase of six stores is a stark contrast to its rapid expansion in recent years. It added 150 stores in 2020, 216 in 2019, and 353 in 2018.
The chain has more than 9,000 nationwide.
–Kristine de Leon, kdeleon@oregonian.com, 503-221-8506
