It's official. Starbucks is now a public restroom for the homeless.

Falsedawn said:
If that stand brings you increased business as a result of your philanthropic stance (as has been shown with millennials wanting to work for and do business with ethical companies) then yes.

You're not understanding that companies are doing exactly this to drum up positive brand associations and get more business from our increasingly jaded society. It's not enough for a company to just provide a product, if you stand for something and create a culturally conscious product, more people are likely to reciprocate that with increased sales. For starbucks, where one person getting fucked over can wreck their meticulously cultivated corporate culture, it absolutely matters. Why do you think Schultz even came back to Starbucks? Profit over people isn't the way they do things, and it never has been.
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Seriously, is it unethical to not let people hangout at your business all day even if they buy absolutely nothing?
 
BEER said:
My room mate is a barista at a locally-owned cafe, and she got accused of racism for asking two black women to leave after they had been sitting at a table for an hour and a half without ordering anything. She politely explained that it was the cafe's policy and that she'd let it slide if it wasn't Saturday (the busiest day of the week). Nope. Got called a "stupid ass bitch" and accused of being racist for trying to free up a table for a real paying customer.

They refused to leave until they spoke to a manager. The owner told them to get the fuck out and never come back. I think he can actually be quoted as "this isn't Starbucks".
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Was that at Seattle?

 
Kafir-kun said:
Lol, poor shareholders being exploited by the homeless.

Jesus Christ is this really where we're at in America?
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You don't think stores will be hurt financially by this decision to let people freely loiter in their stores without a purchase being made?
 
i assume all companies make moves for their own benefit.


so i don't think this will significantly affect their bottom line.
 
oleDirtyBast4rd said:
You don't think stores will be hurt financially by this decision to let people freely loiter in their stores without a purchase being made?
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I can't say either way, from what I've heard of the company this was their de facto policy anyway so if so then I doubt it will affect them too much. A couple of locations might have trouble but in the aggregate I don't think it'll make much of a difference.
 
Anyone who's saying this is a "terrible business decision" probably just woke up from a 20 year coma and hasn't heard of the terms "reputational damage" and "teh internetz". If you think letting people to your restroom for free is worse than the insane shitstorm they would have incurred by doing nothing (in the way of policies) after the incident with those two black dudes, you are high af. Doing nothing would have immediately been equated with "supporting exclusion" and "racial bias" and "socioeconomic bias" etc. Wrongfully? Yes. Does that matter? Not in the least bit. Businesses live and die by their reputation, and that reputation is determined by the lowest intellectual common denominator of our time - the internet. They would have been burried had they tried ignoring this.
 
Kafir-kun said:
I can't say either way, from what I've heard of the company this was their de facto policy anyway so if so then I doubt it will affect them too much. A couple of locations might have trouble but in the aggregate I don't think it'll make much of a difference.
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That was not the de facto policy before.... not even close. Let me ask you this. Is there a way this decision could earn them more money? I don't think so. Could it hurt them? Definitely. Investors should be rightfully pissed
 
Darth_Inv1ctu5 said:
Anyone who's saying this is a "terrible business decision" probably just woke up from a 20 year coma and hasn't heard of the terms "reputational damage" and "teh internetz". If you think letting people to your restroom for free is worse than the insane shitstorm they would have incurred by doing nothing (in the way of policies) after the incident with those two black dudes, you are high af. Doing nothing would have immediately been equated with "supporting exclusion" and "racial bias" and "socioeconomic bias" etc. Wrongfully? Yes. Does that matter? Not in the least bit. Businesses live and die by their reputation, and that reputation is determined by the lowest intellectual common denominator of our time - the internet. They would have been burried had they tried ignoring this.
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It's not jsut the bathroom bro. They are cool with people loitering around now without purchasing anything.... that's objectively bad for business
 
oleDirtyBast4rd said:
It's not jsut the bathroom bro. They are cool with people loitering around now without purchasing anything.... that's objectively bad for business
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It’s going to be a real show of what % of millennials actually want to sit beside the poor.
They will lose a lot of business, even if the public praises the decision. Most can agree it’s a nice gesture, and most wont want to be in there with them for long.
I suppose the drive through might just thrive better than ever.
 
oleDirtyBast4rd said:
It's not jsut the bathroom bro. They are cool with people loitering around now without purchasing anything.... that's objectively bad for business
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Yes, and what are they going to do? They have a bad situation in which they can either come off as judgmental to their core customer base of liberal-leaning idiots ready to drop $5 on a shitty coffee, or suck it up and play good guy at the cost of losing some business. It's a lose-lose proposition in which they're opting for what they perceive as the lesser of two evils...
 
oleDirtyBast4rd said:
That was not the de facto policy before.... not even close. Let me ask you this. Is there a way this decision could earn them more money? I don't think so. Could it hurt them? Definitely. Investors should be rightfully pissed
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Posters ITT who frequent the place seem to suggest that and I've heard it many times before, that its not uncommon for people to simply hang out at Starbucks for extended periods of time without buying anything.

This can help them earn more money. The incident with the black folks was terrible PR, this was meant to balance that out. Starbucks mainly has appeal among young liberals, this is exactly the kind of policy that appeals to their sensibilities.
 
Darth_Inv1ctu5 said:
Anyone who's saying this is a "terrible business decision" probably just woke up from a 20 year coma and hasn't heard of the terms "reputational damage" and "teh internetz". If you think letting people to your restroom for free is worse than the insane shitstorm they would have incurred by doing nothing (in the way of policies) after the incident with those two black dudes, you are high af. Doing nothing would have immediately been equated with "supporting exclusion" and "racial bias" and "socioeconomic bias" etc. Wrongfully? Yes. Does that matter? Not in the least bit. Businesses live and die by their reputation, and that reputation is determined by the lowest intellectual common denominator of our time - the internet. They would have been burried had they tried ignoring this.
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I don't know about arguing it was a terrible business decision, but I'd argue it was unnecessary to go to this length. We're bombarded with these stories everyday, and the attention span of the moral outrage crew is limited. I think if they had issued an apology, possibly release a friendly YT message or some such to go the extra mile, people would have forgot. Plus there's always stalling until the mob forgets.
 
dontsnitch said:
I don't know about arguing it was a terrible business decision, but I'd argue it was unnecessary to go to this length. We're bombarded with these stories everyday, and the attention span of the moral outrage crew is limited. I think if they had issued an apology, possibly release a friendly YT message or some such to go the extra mile, people would have forgot. Plus there's always stalling until the mob forgets.
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Maybe, idk, I honestly wish that were the case. The world we live in has become a vile and unforgiving place...
 
Darth_Inv1ctu5 said:
Maybe, idk, I honestly wish that were the case. The world we live in has become a vile and unforgiving place...
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And then some. Turns out that the truth in give a man a mask and he'll tell you the truth is that people are dicks.
 
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