A Starbucks location in Syracuse, New York, will be closed down after the company raised safety issues and made no attempt to fix them.
The decision has been criticized by government officials in the city. They say the company did not attempt to even work with them to fix these issues.
According to CNY Central, Deputy Commissioner of Business Development, Eric Ennis, said this was the wrong time for a business like Starbucks to leave the city.
Once the city government was made aware a closure may happen, they attempted to contact Starbucks but were ignored. They found out that the closure happened in the news.
Why did Starbucks refuse to work with the city before the store was closed down?
A Starbucks spokesperson shared a list of reasons for the company choosing to close down this specific location in the city.
The store is located at 290 W Jefferson Street. Reasons cited for closing the store included chronic homelessness, substance abuse issues, and people with mental health issues posing safety issues at the location.
The spokesperson who shared these issues with CNY Central declined the conversation being recorded. They have not answered further questions about the issue.
Are Starbucks locations closing for safety reasons or because workers want to unionize?
It’s no secret that workers for the major coffee chain have been trying to unionize for years. What’s also unsurprising is how against this the company is.
To date there have been at least 16 stores closed across the U.S. for what Starbucks says are safety reasons.
All of these stores that closed for safety reasons were also looking to unionize. Most of these locations are in urban areas.
Greg Loh, a spokesperson for Mayor Ben Walsh, shared that this appears to be a corporate strategy on behalf of Starbucks. Stores are being closed in urban areas that have seen increased efforts to unionize.
Despite what appears to be obvious to some, Starbucks denied these claims.
The location in Syracuse remains open for now, but no closure date has been shared.
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