If you want to hang out or use the bathroom at Starbucks, you’ll have to buy something.
Starbucks said Monday it was rescinding a policy inviting everyone to its stores. The new code of conduct – which will be posted in all company-owned stores in North America, including Canada – also prohibits discrimination or harassment, outside alcohol consumption, smoking, e-cigarette use, drug use, and begging.
Starbucks spokesman Jaci Anderson said the new rules are designed to help prioritize paying customers. Most other retailers already have similar rules, Anderson said.
“We want everyone to feel welcome and comfortable in our stores,” Anderson said. “By setting clear expectations for behavior and use of our spaces, we can create a better environment for everyone.”
The code of conduct, which comes into force on January 27, warns that violators will be asked to leave, and says the store may contact law enforcement, if necessary. Starbucks said employees will receive training on implementing the new policy.
The new rules mirror the open-door policy implemented in 2018, after two black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks where they went for a business meeting. The single store had a policy of asking non-paying customers to leave, and the men did not buy anything. But the arrest, which was captured on video, was a major embarrassment for the company.
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At the time, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said he didn’t want people to feel “less than” if they were denied access.
“We don’t want to become a public bathroom, but we’ll make the right decision 100 percent and give people the key,” Schultz said.
However, since then, employees and customers have been experiencing unruly and even dangerous behavior in the stores. In 2022, Starbucks closed 16 stores across the country — including six in Los Angeles and six in its hometown of Seattle — due to recurring safety issues, including drug use and other disruptive behavior that threatened employees.
The new rule comes as part of a campaign by Starbucks’ new Chairman and CEO, Brian Nicol, to revitalize the chain’s flagging sales. Nicol said he wants Starbucks to recapture the community café feel it once had, before long lines for mobile orders, backups for mobile orders and other issues made visits more of a chore.
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