Starbucks is closing many of its stores in the United States due to “safety concerns”

The American chain of Starbucks cafes announced the closure of more than 10 branches in the United States, due to safety concerns.
Last week, the coffee giant announced plans to close 16 of its branches in Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland, Oregon, as well as in other cities by the end of July, citing “difficult incidents”, including drug use and behavior. Troubled for some customers, according to the American “Insider” website.
He also revealed a leaked video of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, in which he says that “more store closures are coming.”
In the leaked video, Schultz appears to be addressing a group of his employees, saying: “This is only the beginning, there will be more closed branches.”

EXCLUSIVE: Today at an internal meeting CEO Howard Schultz said: "Starbucks is a window into America… we are facing things in which the stores were not built for… we're listening to our people and closing stores, & this is just the beginning. There are gonna be many more. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/E9ayQqSmB8

— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) July 13, 2022

At the time of the announcement of the closure of 16 branches, a Starbucks spokesperson said that the chain was “closing some stores in locations that have experienced a large number of difficult incidents, which make it unsafe to continue to operate, to open new locations in safer conditions.”
Starbucks president Howard Schultz noted that he’s heard retail employees express safety concerns at executives’ hearings over the past year, including those related to mental illness, homelessness and crime.
“We are facing things that the stores were not built for,” he said, adding that this has forced some stores to close even though they continue to turn a profit.
But in contrast to Starbucks’ justification for closing the 16 stores, the organizers of the “Starbucks” union confirmed that the chain was targeting some union stores recently, including two of those stores scheduled to close, but Starbucks denied that it was targeting pro-union stores.