Treasure Valley Starbucks Locations to Close May 29

Sometimes after lunch, you just start to drag while sitting at your desk.  It doesn't matter what song we play to pick you up. Prince "1999" Journey "Don't Stop Believin," Nsync "Bye, Bye, Bye." Nothing works.  What you need is your afternoon caffeine fix! If you grab it at Starbucks, you'll need to find another place to go on May 29. 

All company owned Starbucks locations will close for a few hours on Tuesday, May 29 as their employees undergo a racial bias training. The need for the training stems from an incident in Philadelphia last week.  According to CNN Money, two African American men went into their local Starbucks and asked to use the restroom.

Per their policy, the request was denied because the restrooms at this particular Starbucks were only open to paying customers.  The two men decided to sit down in the coffee house, but didn't order anything.  That's when the manager called police to report the men were trespassing and arrested the men after they refused to leave.  A patron who saw the incident said the men weren't do anything wrong, just waiting for a third friend to show up. In the end Starbucks decided to not press charges, but videos of the arrest had already gone viral on social media and caused a public outcry.  Many speculate that had the men been white, it wouldn't have escalated into a call to the police.

All company-owned locations in the Treasure Valley will be part of the racial bias training.  Company owned stores include standalone Starbucks locations or those inside malls/shopping centers. Stores within stores like Fred Meyer, Albertsons or Barnes and Noble are considered licensed stores and are not necessarily owned by the coffee giant.