Starbucks has announced it will close 8,000 U.S. stores for one day to conduct racial-bias education.
The nationwide closing of the stores will be on May 29, and is the result of an incident at a Philadelphia store involving the arrest of two black men.
“The training will be provided to nearly 175,000 partners (employees) across the country, and will become part of the onboarding process for new partners,” Starbucks said in a statement. “The training will cover topics such as implicit bias and ‘conscious inclusion.'”
According to the coffee giant, the education will be “geared toward preventing discrimination in our stores.”
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,” said Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson in a statement.
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson met privately with the two black men on Monday. They were arrested at a store in Philadelphia’s City Center district on April 12 after they asked to use the restroom.
The incident has caused a string of protests, and some have even called for a boycott.
Cellphone videos show the two men seated and being asked to leave by six Philadelphia police officers. They were arrested for trespassing, but no charges were filed.
In a video message, Johnson said, “I will fix this.”
Shutting down the stores will be costly, but Starbucks does make quite a bit of money. Starbucks-owned stores made roughly $4.7 billion in revenue in the most recent quarter, according to the company’s latest earnings report.
