The Starbucks restaurant in Hollywood was one of six Los Angeles locations closed by thecoffee chain. In a "hostage situation," according to local reports.
Starbucks near Hollywood Boulevard. A stone's throw from the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame, Vine Street is one of his 16 locations nationwide that the Seattle-based company has announced to close.
Starbucks claimed rampant crime, homelessness and tense encounters between employees and the mentally ill forced it to close its stores.
A company spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times that it prompted the announcement of the closure "due to a series of difficult incidents that made it dangerous to continue operations." Told.
Hollywood resident Sarah Blair told The Times that she noticed a large group of police officers surrounding the Hollywood and Vine café after someone broke in with a weapon.
The Post has reached out to Starbucks and the Los Angeles Police Department for further information.
She also said that Starbucks sites were often vandalized. According to The Times, passers-by will find windows smashed and boarded up.
Still, Blair was "very sad" to find out that her local Starbucks had completely closed.
"It's my favorite Starbucks," Blair told The Times.
Starbucks has closed six more stores in its hometown of Seattle, besides its LA store. Her two restaurants in Portland, Oregon. There is one in Washington DC and one in Philadelphia.
The company said it has received feedback from store managers who are struggling to deal with drug users occupying bathrooms and rowdy customers committing crimes such as theft and assault.
However, union representatives said the two Seattle stores that were closed had employees engaged in organized labor activities, and that the company used the crime as a pretext to retaliate against them.
Starbucks interim CEO Howard Schultz said:Earlier this summer, he had given store managers discretion to change the chain's "open bathroom" policy due to growing public safety concerns.
In 2018, Starbucks allowed non-customers to use the restrooms after two black men from his Philadelphia coffee shop were arrested for sitting without ordering anything. did.
