Coalition of Franchisee Associations

March 17, 2015

Starbucks Baristas Free to Talk About Race with Customers

Some days Starbucks appears to be the best run company in the world and other days 
CEO Howard Schultz sounds like a blithering idiot. Last week Starbucks got a lot of 
press for a mobile ordering system that's supposed to deal with the lines of customers.
This week Schultz wants his people to stop the operation to talk with their customers
about race relations.

There are a lot of ways a company the size of Starbucks can impact such social issues. 
But, putting the responsibility on their front line employees and the customers they 
are trying to serve is just - felony dumb.

Fortune magazine reports
.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, Im gonna want to give my opinion to the jerk making my coffee....and if he doesnt agree with me, he will SPIT in it...or WORSE

Anonymous said...

Seems like a dumb move someone should ask Mr. Schultz why their are no Starbucks in the Ghettos of America?

Anonymous said...

who better to give straight talk on one of the most sensitive issues in our country than a company which can't even use clear language like "small" "medium" and "large" when obfuscating the sizes of their own products?

Anonymous said...

If Starbucks wants us to talk about race, let’s start with why they don’t have Starbucks Coffee Houses in some of America’s cities that are mostly black, or have had a racially charged history?

My friend looked up various cities, and found that there are no Starbucks Coffee Houses in many of them.

Places like Highland Park, Michigan, which is at the center of Detroit, is inhabited by a population that is 94 percent African-American. Or in Benton Harbor, Michigan, which is almost 90 percent African-American. There is not a Starbucks in either town.

There is not a Starbucks in East St. Louis, Illinois, in which 98 percent of the population is African-American. Nor is there one in Gary, Indiana, whose population is 85 percent African-American.

The recent remembrance of the march on Selma, Alabama had the president walking down the street with many people who fought for civil rights, but once again, Selma doesn’t have a Starbucks. Neither does Ferguson, Missouri.

Here is the point, if Starbucks wants to have a conversation about race, perhaps they should explain why they are not accessible to most of those they claim to advocate for and champion. If being of a different race than white is higher on their list of desirables, why isn’t Starbucks putting their money where their mouth is?

Anonymous said...

It takes the rocket scientists who work at starbuck$$$ long enough now to make a coffee. I sure wouldnt want to slow them down further by engaging them in conversation!

Anonymous said...

Is writing on a cup with who knows what even SANITARY ?????