Howard Schultz, the CEO of the popular Starbucks coffee store chain, shared a blunt assessment about the real reason why the company is shuttering 16 stores: Local city governments, along with state and federal officials, are failing in their basic requirements to enforce the laws, keep the peace, and treat the astonishing epidemic of mental illness that is making the nation’s big cities virtually unlivable.
Schultz’s observations were made in an internal meeting which was subsequently leaked to the public. Among other things, the interim CEO explained that the retail locations were being closed, not due to unprofitability, but because safety concerns by the stores’ employees made it impossible for the company to maintain those locations.
“It has shocked me that one of the primary concerns that our retail partners have is their own personal safety,” Schultz is heard saying in the video leaked online. “America has become unsafe.”
“And then we heard the stories that go along with it about what happens in our bathrooms,” he added, “the issue of mental illness, the issues of homelessness, the issues of crime, and Starbucks is a window into America, we have stores in every community, and we are facing things in which the stores were not built for and so we’re listening to our people and closing stores.”
EXCLUSIVE: Today at an internal meeting CEO Howard Schultz said: “Starbucks is a window into America… we are facing things in which the stores were not built for… we’re listening to our people and closing stores, & this is just the beginning. There are gonna be many more. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/E9ayQqSmB8
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) July 13, 2022
Unsurprisingly, the 16 stores that Starbucks will be closing are all located in large, Democrat-run cities, including Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, and even Washington, D.C.
“And I must say, in my view,” Schultz continued, addressing the root causes of the problem, “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. And we are going to have to refine and transform and modernize many of the things we do to meet the needs of our customers in a very changing operating environment, in which customer behavior is changing.”
Schultz blamed elected leaders of the Democrat cities where the stores are closing “at the local state and federal level, these governments… and leaders, mayors & governors & city councils have advocated their responsibility in fighting crime & addressing mental illness. pic.twitter.com/M8vTJgchCE
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) July 13, 2022
Schultz also hinted that the 16 store closings may only be the first of many more to come.
“This is just the beginning, there are going to be many more,” he said. Schultz also announced last month that the company might reconsider its longstanding policy of allowing non-paying customers to use store bathrooms—a policy that was quickly exploited by the homeless population in chaotic deep-blue cities.
“We serve 100 million people at Starbucks, and there is an issue of just safety in our stores, in terms of people coming in who use our stores as a public bathroom, and we have to provide a safe environment for our people and our customers,” Schultz said at the time.
“We have to harden our stores and provide safety for our people,” he added, saying that he was unsure if the chain could keep its bathrooms open anymore. For the time being, Starbucks will be adopting a case-by-case policy, allowing employees to close bathrooms if there are safety concerns.
When even the wokest companies are fleeing your cities because conditions are too unsafe and unstable, you know you’ve got a problem. Fortunately, many believe the solution is clear—vote out the Democrats.
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"Originally from South Florida, Todd Jaquith now lives in sunny Santa Fe, New Mexico. He holds a degree in Anthropology from Florida Atlantic University."
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