Starbucks Closes Most Stores in U.S. Except Drive Thru, Delivery
March 20 2020 - 8:14PM
Dow Jones News
By Heather Haddon
Starbucks Corp. says it will close the majority of company-owned
cafes in the U.S. as the coronavirus increasingly upends the coffee
giant's operations.
The Seattle-based chain said that it will begin to close its
8,870 U.S. stores Saturday, shifting to delivery and drive-through
only service. Some cafes serving hospitals will remain open, and
its licenses will decide on their own operations, the company
said.
Starbucks had closed dine-in service but left it cafes open for
pickup. Company baristas had increasingly protested still having to
interact with the public, and some had planned a boycott
Monday.
"Our cafes in some areas are experiencing high traffic, and we
need to do more to prevent the spread of this virus," said Rossann
Williams, president of the U.S. company-operated business and
Canada.
Starbucks said they would pay workers for 30 days whether they
reported to their posts or not.
Write to Heather Haddon at Heather.Haddon@WSJ.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 20, 2020 19:59 ET (23:59 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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