Manayunk, Roxborough Starbucks Close Early Tuesday For Training

MANAYUNK-ROXBOROUGH, PHILADELPHIA – Coffee lovers had to find an alternative to Starbucks for their afternoon coffee fix on Tuesday.

Starbucks locations in Manayunk and Roxborough closed early Tuesday, May 29 for racial bias training. The training is a response to a situation in which two black men were arrested inside a Philadelphia Starbucks after the manager called police on them.

The Manayunk- and Roxborough-area stores that closed early are:

• 6024 Ridge Ave., Roxborough
• 4415 Main St., Manayunk

The stores closed at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Starbucks coffee counters located in local grocery stores like Acme and Giant are not impacted by the closure and will be open for regular hours Tuesday.

On April 12, the manager of a Starbucks in downtown Philadelphia called police on two black men who were seated inside the store. They had not bought anything, and apparently refused to leave. The police arrested the men for loitering, which was captured in a cell phone video.

"I've spent the last few days in Philadelphia with my leadership team listening to the community, learning what we did wrong and the steps we need to take to fix it," said CEO Kevin Johnson in an April press release.

"While this is not limited to Starbucks, we're committed to being a part of the solution. Closing our stores for racial bias training is just one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our company and partnerships in our local communities."

Story by Kara Seymour

Image via Patch