The company decided to open its doors to the public back in 2018 after two Black men were arrested at one of its stores in Philadelphia. They were arrested for trespassing because a Starbucks employee denied them from using the bathroom since they had not made a purchase, according to the NYT.
CNN said this led to protests and negative publicity for the company, which apologized and closed its stores across the country for a racial bias training for their employees. Starbucks then decided to have open access to its bathrooms and patio areas for both customers and non-customers. Schultz — as Starbucks’ executive chairman — said in 2018, according to CNN, that it was the right decision because of the “implicit bias that occurred.”
