Some Colorado Starbucks Stores are Closed Today
If you roll up to a Starbucks today and get excited because there are no lines at the counter or the drive-through, your excitement will drop dramatically when you notice that particular location is closed today.
Starbucks is shutting down 8,000 stores today for three hours (starting around 1pm or 2pm) for anti-bias training. According to USA Today, up to 180,000 employees from their stores and at the corporate headquarters will receive training that will "focus on understanding prejudice and the history of public accommodations in the United States".
The training stems from an incident in Philadelphia this past April as a Starbucks manager called police when two African-American males were sitting in the store waiting on some friends. They didn't purchase anything from the store while there. They were also denied the use of the restroom. They were arrested for trespassing but later released without charges.
About a week ago, Starbucks announced a new policy allowing anyone to use their cafe's and restrooms without purchasing anything.