What’s new at one Starbucks store in Washington D.C. is not what’s on the menu, but how customers order it.
Known as the “signing store,” it’s the chain’s first in the United States to cater to deaf and hearing impaired. The company has hired people fluent in American Sign Language and in a statement said, “We think this store celebrates the culture of human connection on a deep level.”
Starbucks’ very first signing store opened in Malaysia in 2016.
At the new location, baristas wear ASL embroidered aprons and an "I Sign" pin while digital displays, notepads, and ordering devices with two-way keyboards are on hand to ease communication.
Starbucks says it’s all to make their stores more inclusive, to bring together people of all backgrounds, who speak different languages --- even just over a cup of coffee.