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Starbucks to shut 8,000 US stores for an afternoon in May

by April 18, 2018

written by 18^th Apr 18 11:32 am

For “racial bias” training

Starbucks will close 8,000 company-owned US cafes on the afternoon on May 29 to carry out “racial bias” training for 175,000 employees across the US.

This comes amid controversy sparked by the arrest of two black men waiting in a Philadelphia store. The incident has sparked massive outrage on social media, leading to a #boycottstarbucks hashtag on Twitter.

Starbucks chief executive Kevin Johnson told media: “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. While this is not limited to Starbucks, we’re committed to being a part of the solution. Closing our stores for racial bias training is just one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our company and partnerships in our local communities.”

The world’s biggest coffee company has also said that it will provide training materials for non-company workers at the roughly 6,000 licensed Starbucks cafes that will remain open in locations such as grocery stores and airports.