Starbucks is trying to tamp down a racially charged uproar over the arrest of two black men at one of its stores in Philadelphia.
The men, who had not made a purchase, were handcuffed and arrested for trespassing on Thursday after a store manager called 911 and reported them for refusing to leave. Witnesses said the men were calmly sitting in the cafe and in a widely viewed video, some patrons asked police whether they were
targeted because they are black.
The episode highlights the risks large corporations run when they tie their brands so closely to social messaging.
Three years ago, Starbucks was widely ridiculed for trying to start a national conversation on race relations by asking its employees to write the words "Race Together" on coffee cups.
The initiative, though it backfired, was in line with the company's longstanding effort to project a progressive and inclusive image.
Now CEO Kevin Johnson is scrambling to keep the Philadelphia incident from shattering the message the company was going for: Starbucks is a corporation that stands for something beyond profit.
Starbucks Corp Chief Executive Kevin Johnson hopes to meet with the two black men arrested at one of its Philadelphia cafes last week to apologise for the incident, which has sparked accusations of racial profiling at the coffee chain.
Police released the men, who were not charged."The circumstances surrounding the incident and the outcome in our store on Thursday were reprehensible ... they were wrong," Johnson told ABC's Good Morning America on Monday, amid protests and calls for a boycott on social media.
The female manager who reported the men to police has left the company, a Starbucks representative said.
Philadelphia Police late on Tuesday released the series of calls that led to their arrests.
It begins with a Starbucks employee reporting "two gentlemen in my cafe that are refusing to make a purchase or leave."
In a subsequent call, an unidentified man said a "group of males" was "causing a disturbance" that required backup and a supervisor.
Philadelphia's police commissioner over the weekend defended the arrests, saying his officers had to act after Starbucks employees told them the pair were trespassing.
The incident came at a time when the company is grappling with flat traffic and lackluster sales growth at its more than 14,000 US cafes. It is a high-profile public relations test for Johnson, a former technology executive who took the helm at Starbucks roughly a year ago.
Protesters crowded the store that was the scene of the arrest on Monday morning. It was closed at around midday. More protests and a news conference are expected in the afternoon.
Now, the Starbucks Corp is planning to close 8,000 company-owned US cafes for the afternoon on May 29 so that 175,000 employees can undergo racial tolerance training in response to protests and calls for boycotts.
The company said in the Tuesday announcement that it will also provide training materials for non-company workers at the roughly 6,000 licensed Starbucks cafes that will remain open in locations such as grocery stores and airports.
Starbucks is one of the most high-profile and beloved brands in the world and its long-time CEO Howard Schultz was not one to shy away from difficult conversations over thorny issues such as gay marriage, gun control and Congressional gridlock.
However US race relations have proven more challenging, even for a company that touts its diverse workforce—minorities account for 18 per cent of Starbucks executives with the title of senior vice president or higher and 43 per cent of employees overall.
(With inputs from Reuters, AP, AFP)