TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - Local Starbucks stores are among the more than 8,000 locations across the nation that closed Tuesday afternoon as employees participated in anti-racial bias training.
The Starbucks on Monroe Street is one of many in the Toledo area that closed at 2:30 p.m. for four hours of training.
The nationwide training involved 175,000 employees.
Starbucks announced the closures back in April after a Philadelphia store manager kicked two black men out of the store for not buying anything.
Starbucks Executive Chairman Howard Schultz says this is a necessary step for the stores to move forward.
"We need to use this as an opportunity to really transform the training, an opportunity to share with our Starbucks partners, all 75,000 of them, everything we possibly can with experts who could co-author with us a legitimate way to provide racial bias training to demonstrate we all have unconscious bias," Schultz said.
Read his full statement here.
Some local patrons agreed with the decision to hold the training while others were not happy to be inconvenienced.
"I guess it's a good thing just for them just to make sure it doesn't happen again and I don't think, it'd be kind of ridiculous if it does happen again," Kyle Lender said.
Throughout afternoon, Starbucks customers pulled into the parking lot and realized they were not able to get their afternoon coffee.
"Well, I'm thirsty and I'm upset. I just wanted an iced tea!" said would-be customer Sarah Bowlus.
Starbucks could lose about 20 percent of sales while stores are closed. The Starbucks located inside Kroger stores are not affected by the closures and remained open.
Area Starbucks locations that closed Tuesday afternoon included Toledo stores at 3305 W. Central Ave., 6975 W. Central Ave., 1260 S. Reynolds Road, 5231 Monroe St. Suite A, 4321 Talmadge Road, the Holland store at 6635 Airport Highway, and Perrysburg's 3145 Levis Commons Boulevard and 10680 Fremont Pike Suite A locations.
