Starbucks is reversing its open-door policy. Now, if you want to hang out or use the bathroom at one of the coffee giant’s locations, you’ll need to buy something.
It’s part of a new code of conduct for its company-owned stores. It includes bans on discrimination, harassment, panhandling, smoking, vaping and drinking outside alcohol.
It reverses a rule change the coffee chain made in 2018 after a store manager called the police on two Black men in a Philadelphia location. They asked to go to the bathroom while waiting for a friend to arrive. Video of police arresting the men went viral, prompting then-CEO Howard Schultz to announce the open-door policy.
“Everyone is welcome at Starbucks,” Schultz told an Atlantic Council event in 2018. “And in terms of the bathroom, we’re going to have to make sure that we don’t want to become a public bathroom but we’re going to make the right decision a hundred percent of the time and give people the key. Because we don’t want anyone at Starbucks to feel as if we are not giving access to you to the bathroom because you are less-than.”
However, much like when it introduced the open-door policy, the company is framing its reversal as part of being welcoming. “We want everyone to feel welcome and comfortable in our stores,” Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson told the Associated Press. “By setting clear expectations for behavior and use of our spaces, we can create a better environment for everyone.”
Starbucks closed 16 stores in 2022, citing safety threats to workers and customers in cities including Los Angeles and Seattle.
