FILE – This March 14, 2017, file photo show the Starbucks logo on a shop in downtown Pittsburgh. Starbucks is announcing a new policy that allows anyone to sit in its cafes or use its restrooms, even if they don’t buy anything. Company executives have said its previous policies were loose and ambiguous, leaving decisions on whether people could sit in its stores or use the restroom up to store managers. Starbucks said Saturday, May 19, 2018 it has told workers to consider anyone who walks into its stores a customer, “regardless of whether they make a purchase.” (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)After Starbucks received national criticism for the arrest of two black men at a Philidelphia location last month, more than 8,000 stores across the country will close Tuesday afternoon for racial bias education and training, including four stores in the Chattanooga area.
Brainerd Starbucks store manager Samantha Weber said an estimated 100 employees will take part in the training from the four, company-owned stores in the Chattanooga area as well as roughly 50 employees at two Cleveland, Tenn. stores. A corporate spokesperson said there are 99 company-owned stores in Tennessee that will close that afternoon.
The Chattanooga locations to close include 5610 Brainerd Road, 2217 Hamilton Place Blvd. and 1951 Gunbarrel Road. The Hixson location at 5238 Highway 153 will also be closed. Stores will close around 2:30-3 p.m. and stay closed for a few hours or the rest of the day depending on the location.
All stores will reopen for normal operating hours on Wednesday. Licensed stores, like the one inside of the Read House Inn & Suites on Broad Street downtown or the ones located inside of malls, hospitals and other developments, will not close for the training, Weber said.
In April, Philidelphia police officers arrested two black men, Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson, at a Starbucks after an employee accused them of trespassing. Officials have said police officers were told the men had asked to use the store’s restroom but were denied because they hadn’t bought anything and they refused to leave. Video shows police talking quietly with two black men seated at a table. After a few minutes, officers handcuff the men and lead them outside but customers said they weren’t doing anything wrong.