Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) will close 16 stores this month, a tiny percentage of the 15,474 it has. Management says the stores are unsafe for employees and patrons. It is odd that almost all are in Los Angeles and Seattle. Surely, those are not the only unsafe areas across the country.
Cynics about the timing and locations of the closures say the effort is to crack down on unions that have attempted to organize workers in these areas. There is scant evidence this is true.
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As crime rises in many urban areas, Starbucks may need to close hundreds of stores, if it applies the same yardstick across the country. There is no reason to believe that New York, Detroit or Baltimore areas are safer for fast-food locations. If they are, observers of crime in major cities have missed something substantial.
Logically, the problem needs to extend beyond Starbucks. Dangerous neighborhoods have to include McDonald’s locations, as well as those of Subway and Burger King. Managements of the companies, which among them have tens of thousands of locations, have to be examining the same safety issues.
A possible future for the fast-food industry is that it shutters stores in urban areas altogether. This represents a problem for local residents. Many of these locations are among the few places they can get affordable food.
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