Starbucks elaborated on its open-door policy on Monday as the controversy over allowing anyone free use of its facilities roared over the weekend.
The “third-place policy” announced by Starbucks on Saturday had many customers wondering if it would make the cafes the first place to gather for drug users and the homeless.
The policy posted on the company’s website stated anyone who enters a Starbucks may use all of its spaces, including the restroom, “regardless of whether they make a purchase.”
But the commitment to open restrooms has already angered many customers on social media worried for overall safety.
“You are putting your workers life in jeopardy,” Veteran OIF tweeted on Monday. “Your stores will get robbed.”
A post from “DemsHateAmerica” said, “as a result of this policy, I saw a homeless guy in my local Starbucks Reserve who appeared to be suffering withdrawal from some serious drugs. … Thanks, Starbucks!”
The pushback was so great The Wall Street Journal reported that Starbucks made “a fresh attempt Monday to explain its new policy on nonpaying guests.”
The new post detailed how customers and Starbucks employees are to behave “to help maintain the third-place environment in alignment with our mission ‘to inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time,’ ” the company said.
The company’s second attempt to explain, however, stopped short of changing the policy published on Saturday, a Starbucks spokesperson told The Post.
With the policy, the Seattle-based company appeared to be trying to score points after a Starbucks manager in Philadelphia called the police last month to arrest two black men who, without ordering, were waiting for a friend.
The incident prompted a public apology from Chief Executive Kevin Johnson and a promise that Starbucks would review its policies.
While many restaurants have to deal with lingering customers who often drop in to use the restroom, Starbucks’ “third-place policy” positions the company as an inclusive stop-off between home and work.
But the policy isn’t so inclusive as to accommodate all behavior — as evidenced in the Saturday post to procedures for “Addressing Disruptive Behaviors” and “Requesting A Customer Restriction.”