Starbucks announced last week that they will be shutting down 16 stores in the U.S. due to "a high volume of challenging incidents," including six shops in Seattle, six in Los Angeles, two in Portland, one in Philadelphia, and one in Washington, D.C.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz then told employees in a leaked video that Democratic mayors and city councils "have abdicated their responsibility in fighting crime and addressing mental illness," according to Seattle-based Talk Radio 570 KVI host Ari Hoffman.
Schultz went on to discuss the company's shut down of stores that are "not unprofitable," and added that "this is just the beginning" of more stores being closed throughout the country.
"I don't have to spend too much time on what's going on in the country and how America has become unsafe, but you all read the press release over the last couple days that we are beginning to close stores that are not unprofitable," Schultz said in the leaked video, per Hoffman.
"But we're closing stores as a result of the co-creations sessions that we've had... In all of those sessions, it has shocked me that one of the primary concerns that our retail partners have is their own personal safety. And then we heard the stories that go along with it about what happens in our bathrooms - the issue of mental illness, the issues of homelessness, and the issues of crime.
"Starbucks is a window into America, we have stores in every community, and we are facing things in which the stores were not built for. And so we're listening to our people and closing stores, and this is just the beginning, there are gonna be many more."
Schultz then spoke about the Democratic leaders running the cities where Starbucks is having issues at their stores.
"And I must say, in my view, at the local, state, and federal level, these governments across the country, and leaders, mayors, and governors, and city councils have abdicated their responsibility in fighting crime and addressing mental illness," Schultz said.
"We are going to have to refine, and transform, and modernize many of the things we do to meet the needs of our customers in a very changing, operating environment in which customer behavior is changing."
Schultz previously issued a statement on July 11 titled, "The next chapter of Starbucks Reinvention," saying:
"Today, we find ourselves in a position where we must modernize and transform the Starbucks experience in our stores and recreate an environment that is relevant, welcoming and safe, and where we uplift one another with dignity, respect and kindness. We need to reinvent Starbucks for the future. And to be successful, it will take our collective courage to begin again."
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