Starbucks will Temporarily Close 8,000 US Stores and Corporate Offices for Racial-Bias Training

Starbucks, the coffee chain said on Tuesday that it would close its more than 8,000 stores in the United States for one day to conduct anti-bias training after two African-American men were arrested at one of its stores last week, prompting outrage.
The announcement from world’s biggest coffee company came after it tried to cool tensions after the Philadelphia incident last week sparked accusations of racial profiling at the chain, which is the subject of a boycott campaign on social media.
Starbucks said the stores and corporate offices will remain closed on the afternoon of 29 May while it gives training to staff.
“I’ve spent the last few days in Philadelphia with my leadership team listening to the community, learning what we did wrong and the steps we need to take to fix it,” Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in a statement. “While this is not limited to Starbucks, we’re committed to being a part of the solution.”
Johnson met with the two men on Monday who were arrested and apologized for how they were treated, a company spokesperson said.
However U.S. race relations are more challenging, even for a company that touts its diverse workforce — minorities account for 18 percent of Starbucks executives with the title of senior vice president or higher and 43 percent of employees overall.
Gauda warned Starbucks against treating Philadelphia as a one-off affair, and urged the company to inspect if there were any warning signs.
“I would suspect that this particular issue is something that has occurred before,” Gauda said. “The company is in crisis mode now, but they should not look at this as an isolated issue.”
> Shiuly Akter