Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said actions by local elected leaders are responsible for the coffee giant closing 16 of its stores nationwide.
His comments came in two leaked video excerpts of Schultz speaking at an internal meeting. The videos were posted on Twitter by Ari Hoffman of KVI-AM talk radio in Seattle.
"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 in one of the two short video excerpts. "And we're 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 another short excerpt, Schultz said, "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 the last couple of days about the fact that we are beginning to close stores that are not unprofitable."
Starbucks has announced that it will close 16 stores by the end of the month in the United States, including six each in the Seattle and Los Angeles areas, after workers reported a sharp rise in incidents of drug use on the premises.
The other locations to be shut down include two in Portland, Oregon, as well as one each in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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