Howard Schultz said he recently closed 16 locations due to lackadaisical crime policies and too many homeless people.
, spoke of supposed incidents involving homeless people in stores and accused lawmakers of shirking their duties when it comes to being “tough on crime.”
“In my view at the local, state, and federal level, these governments across the country and leaders, mayors, and governors and city councils have abdicated their responsibility in fighting crime and addressing mental illness,” Schultz said.Primary concerns, according to Schultz, include drug use by paying customers and people who take advantage of the company’s open bathroom policy, which gives way for nonpaying visitors—many of them homeless—to use the restroom.
“It has shocked me that one of the primary concerns that our retail partners have is their own personal safety,” Schultz continued. “And then we heard the stories about what happens in our bathrooms, the issues with mental illness, homelessness, and crime.”His solution? Why, shuttering numerous stores, potentially leaving scores of the employees he’s purportedly concerned for temporarily without an income or health coverage, of course! Locations in Philadelphia, PA, Portland, OR, Washington D.C.
“Starbucks is a window into America, we have stores in every community...we are facing things in which the stores were not built for,” he said. “We’re listening to our people and closing stores and this is just the beginning. There are going be many more.”
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