When natures call, you have to act. The problem is these days, getting a decent and clean bathroom can be a hassle. Most businesses only provide bathrooms to their customers.
One of the companies that had customers only policy is Starbucks. Up to 2018, only paying customers had the privilege of using their bathrooms.
However, after an incident that happened in one of the company’s restaurants, it made their bathrooms open to everyone. But why did Starbucks open its restrooms to all?
In 2018, two black men were waiting for their friends in Starbucks in Philadelphia. When they requested to use the store bathroom, they were denied.
After sitting in the restaurant for a while without ordering anything, they were told to leave. However, they declined, and police were called whereby the two were arrested and charged with trespass.
Although the charges were dropped, the incident caused an uproar, resulting in the company issuing an apology. In addition, I closed all the stores to sensitize employees about racism.
Apart from the one-day closure, the bathroom use policy was changed. The CEO said they will start allowing people who need bathrooms to use without purchasing anything. The policy has been in use since 2018.
Can I use the Starbucks bathroom?
A lot transpired when the incident happened. However, people still wonder can you use Starbucks bathroom without buying anything? A simple answer is you can use a bathroom at Starbucks without buying anything.
However, according to CNN, this might not continue any longer. The current CEO, Howard Schultz, was quoted saying the company is opting to revert its bathroom use policy. Therefore, only paying customers will be allowed.
According to the information from the company, many issues are forcing the policy shift.
Why is Starbucks closing its bathrooms?
One of the biggest concerns stated by the company is safety. Safety and well-being of the employees, according to Schulz, is what is making the company reverse its bathroom policy
Bearing in mind that there is an increased rate of drugs, crime, and other vices, bathrooms for all can be challenging. Therefore, this can have considerable effects on workers.
The other probable cause is the efforts it takes to maintain these bathrooms. If you look at the public toilets in US cities, they have almost vanished. Even if people pay to use them, cities have found keeping them clean and safe expensive.
Bearing the extra cost of maintaining the bathrooms can be one reason Starbucks is abandoning the idea.
According to an advocacy group, most restaurants in New York don’t give keys to everyone. Therefore, the reversing of bathroom use should not come as a surprise.
Since Starbucks started offering bathroom access to everyone, there has been a cost part of it. But who cleans the bathrooms at Starbucks? The company has no extra workers employed for bathroom cleaning. It’s the baristas that do the cleaning work.
Apart from serving you coffee and another menu, the baristas are involved in keeping everything clean and sanitized. The increased workload by offering bathrooms to everyone has been classified as one of the reasons why the staff is experiencing various challenges.
Besides, the company staff organization has a significant impact considering Schultz has just returned as interim CEO.
The policy of bathroom use for paying customers is expected to affect all the stores across the US. With over 14,400 locations across the US. However, do all Starbucks have bathrooms?
Typically, the restaurant has bathrooms in most of its stores. Therefore, if there is a policy change, it will affect all the stores.
How did Starbucks open bathroom policy to everyone affect their operations?
After opting for restrooms for everyone policy, the announcement was welcomed by many but still had some negative effects.
According to Restaurant Drive, there was a 6.8% decline in the number of customers. Although, on one side is seen as an achievement, for Starbucks, it has been a paradox.
Besides the slight customer number drop due to the all-access bathroom policy, the coronavirus pandemic has also impacted the company.
Many people are wondering whether Starbucks bathrooms are open during coronavirus.
Despite the Covid-19, Starbucks remained open. However, the bathrooms were closed and not accessible to customers. Since they are among the places where the virus could be transmitted, the bathrooms remained shut.
To conclude, there is a possibility Starbucks closes its bathrooms in a policy change. While access to toilets for everyone is a great community responsibility, it’s not proof of the existing problem public restrooms face.
Although many people would love Starbucks to continue with the current restroom policy, there are many factors to consider. However, there are indications that the company will change its policy back to before 2018.
