Starbucks to close 8,000 stores for race-sensitivity class on May 29

Updated:7 years, 6 months ago

New Delhi, Apr 18 (ANI): Starbucks announced plans to close its more than 8,000 company-owned locations during the afternoon of May 29 to provide racial tolerance training to employees in wake of an embarrassing incident in Philadelphia. Taking a big step Tuesday to try and turn down the temperature after the arrest of two African-American men at a Philadelphia Starbucks sparked days of protests and calls for a boycott over claims of racial profiling. Starbucks says all of its 8,000-plus company owned locations in the U.S. will be shut down for the afternoon of May 29, so staff can go through racial-bias training. CEO Kevin Johnson took the drastic step after meeting with and apologizing to the two men who were arrested after a manager called the police though the two men were not misbehaving in any way. That manager is no longer with the company.