Of course it’s PR. It’s also them saying ‘wtf?’
THey could have just issued an apology, paid off these guys, and been done with it. But they didn’t. I really think they do try to do well.
And this says: look, this isn’t who we ARE. And if this is who you are, then you probably shouldn’t work here.
When they’re done teaching them not to be racist, they can teach their barristas how to make a proper cappuccino.
I guess they are going to have to decide whether tables and restrooms are for customers only, or if they are not. Selective rule enforcement seems to be the primary issue. it is hard to tell whether the manager was acting through bias, without more specific history. But proving it was not bias would be nearly impossible.
Considering this had not occurred before, despite MILLIONS AND MILLIONS (possibly billions?) of interactions with guests? I’m going to say that this was probably an outlier.
Capitalism at its best. You see a need - produce a better service to fill that need - and get compensated more than those who are just average.
Let me ask you this, do you work for a corporation? Most people do, even if it amounts to five people. I hate to say it, but Romney was RIGHT — corporations ARE people, in that they are made up of them, and all of their decisions and cultures are defined by them. I work for a 30-person corporation, and I’m proud of it. It reflects the cumulative values of its principles and employees, who last time I checked (pitches self) are people.
I am not speaking in legal terms — I vehemently disagree with that. However, the point Romney was poorly attempting to make, I agree with. They are NOT inhuman automatons, even the biggest and baddest of the bunch. Rather, they reflect a very small number of executive directors’ whims, and are de facto the products of utterly human decision-making processes.
As excuses go, “nobody can prove we were deliberately racist” is not good enough anymore.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia PD has committed to buying their coffee somewhere else on May 29.
I just want to say, I used to buy one americano and camp out at a variety of Caribou Coffee locations when I was unemployed. The cops were never called, perhaps because I’m quite pale.
It seems to me that sitting around in a coffee shop is part of the reason they exist.
Can only imagine how the Republicans are going to spin this. They’re probably going to be like: “Starbucks is now a communist reeducation camp”.
So, if they represent those people’s views - and a direct identity between those few people and the corporation- there’s no need for a corporate veil. They’re personally responsible for the actions of the entity.
I literally bring a portable French Press in a mug, ask for boiling hot water, then put ground coffee in, mix it, put it back together and don’t buy anything. Thats literally my college experience. I’m cheap as shit and have never gotten asked to leave with the exception of the coffee shop closing because of how late it is. If it’s Dunkin Donuts, I save a ton of receipts with the surveys filled out and get a free donut, usually they let me choose, (it may say classic but, 3/4 shops let you pick anything bit, the coffee roll or muffins).
They should have done it on May Day.
I wouldn’t tend to disagree, especially when it comes to certain types of corporate matters. I’m a pretty raging socialist who largely leans toward wealth caps and a wealth-based taxation model, because I would rather live in Star Trek, than Mad Max, thank you very much. I’m also a nondualist. You grok, Kathy? 
It’s nice to know they’ll make a point to pay for their coffee, once a year.
Nah, Starbucks’ lack of tax returns prove their late stage capitalist credentials. 
An appropriate level of cynicism perhaps but I hope and expect a little better:
Yes it’s PR. But it’s PR done right.
Never having patronized a Starbucks in my life (I dislike paying seven bucks for fifty cents worth of ingredients), I have never had a chance to exercise what up till now has been my whites-only privilege of using those facilities without paying. But I shall definitely test that after May 29.
