Howard Schultz.
Stephen Brashear / Stringer / Getty Images
Starbucks CEO Schultz said more stores would close in leaked footage.
The chain announced 16 store closures in major cities due to safety issues.
Starbucks union organizers say the closures are about retaliation for organizing.
After announcing that 16 Starbucks locations would close because of what the company said were safety concerns, CEO Howard Schultz warned in a leaked video that more store closures were coming.
In the new footage — where Schultz was apparently addressing a group of employees — he said: “This is just the beginning. There are going to be many more.” Starbucks confirmed the authenticity of the footage with Insider, but would not say when or where the video was taken. The company also didn’t detail which other stores could be on the chopping block.
The coffee giant last week announced plans to close 16 locations across Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, and other cities by the end of July citing “challenging incidents,” including drug use and instances of disturbed patrons.
At the time the closures were announced, a Starbucks spokesperson told Insider the chain is “closing some stores in locations that have experienced a high volume of challenging incidents that make it unsafe to continue to operate, to open new locations with safer conditions.”
Schultz said that he’s heard retail employees express concerns about safety in listening sessions executives have held over the past year, including mental illness, homelessness and crime. “We are facing things which the stores were not built for,” Schultz said, forcing some stores to close despite remaining profitable.
Starbucks union organizers claim that the chain is targeting some recently unionized stores: Pro-labor publication In These Times reported that two of the 16 stores slated for closure in the most recent announcement had recently voted to unionize; another was set to have a unionization vote in August, the publication reported.
“Every decision Starbucks makes must be viewed through the lens of the company’s unprecedented and virulent union-busting campaign,” Starbucks Workers United, which represents Starbucks workers who have voted to unionize, told Insider in a statement.
Starbucks denied that it was targeting pro-union stores. The company said it gives local leaders the authority to close bathrooms, reduce seating, and take other measures to keep conditions safe for employees, and that stores close when those measures aren’t enough to keep customers and workers safe.
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