Starbucks is attempting to head off a backlash against the coffee chain in the US after two black men were arrested in a branch in Philadelphia
UNDER fire coffee chain Starbucks is to close more than 8,000 branches in the United States as it gives 175,000 staff “racial-bias” training.
Stores across the country are due to be closed for several hours next month.
The move by the high street chain that was founded in 1971 comes after two black men were arrested at a store in Philadephia over sitting down without ordering anything.
Video footage of the arrests show cops speaking to two men sat at a table.
After a few minutes they were led away in handcuffs but witnesses say they were not doing anything wrong and just waiting for a friend to arrive.
The arrests sparked a backlash which included widespread protests and a call for a boycott on social media.
Protesters stormed the branch in Philadelphia chanting “Starbucks coffee is anti-black".
The group who temporarily occupied the Philadelphia branch, where two black men were arrested, held banners which read: "End Stop and Frisk", at around 7.30am on Monday.
Speaking to NBC before occupying the branch, one said: "If you can't go into a Starbucks to wait for a friend to come, you're not safe anywhere.
"We're going to occupy space, we're going to make it very uncomfortable until they make changes and until specifically they meet the demands we set forth."
Hours later it was revealed the Starbucks manager, Holly, who had run the 18th and Spruce Streets branch for a year had left the company in what has been described as a "mutual decision".
Before her departure, she claimed loitering is an ongoing problem at the branch and said she was once chased and threatened after asking someone to leave, she told
Starbucks chief executive Kevin Johnson called the arrests "reprehensible" and said he wanted to apologise to the two men face-to-face.
The company and a lawyer for the two men said they did meet, and Johnson delivered the apology.
Starbucks also said the employee who called police no longer works at the store, but declined to give details.
Johnson also promised to revamp store management training to include "unconscious-bias" education.
Starbucks said its US company-owned stores and corporate offices will be closed on the afternoon of May 29 for the training, which will eventually be incorporated into the instruction process for all newly hired employees.
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