Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz announced Thursday the company's cafes will now allow anyone, including non-customers, to use their bathrooms.
The move comes after the controversial arrest of two black men at one of the company's Philadelphia locations. Schultz said the company previously had a “loose” policy of only allowing paying customers access to the bathroom, but that the decision ultimately rested with each store manager.
“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. We want you to be more than,” says Shultz.
Since the incident, Starbucks has apologized to the men and announced plans for extra racial bias training for employees. On the afternoon of May 29th Starbucks will close its 8,000 stores to host a company-wide training for about 175,000 workers. Schultz said the session will touch on “one of the most systemic subjects and issues facing our country.”
The Daily Blast Live crew reacts to the announcement.