Another Starbucks store abruptly closed its doors after the area it serves experienced a shocking rise in crime.
A branch of the coffee chain in Winnipeg, Canada, posted a sign on May 31 revealing that it had closed permanently.
It came after a separate note was initially posted on the door, explaining that the store had temporarily closed without notice from May 5.
The abrupt closure is intended to “protect the customer experience” following a disturbing number of violent crimes that took place in the River-Osborne area where the store is located, and a strangulation incident was the last straw.
It is the latest of dozens of stores Starbucks has closed in recent years amid fears for the safety of customers and staff in crime-plagued areas, including San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles.
A branch of the coffee chain in Winnipeg, Canada, posted a sign on May 31 revealing that it had closed permanently.
According to data from Winnipeg Police, the River-Osborne area saw a 44.6% increase in overall crime from 2022 to 2023.
Citing an incident that occurred a day before the store closed, Winnipeg Police Service Cost Dani McKinnon he told CBC that a customer was waiting in line outside Liquor Mart, next to Starbucks, around 7 pm on May 1 when he was randomly attacked.
The staff quickly intervened in the attack and the victim was fine, the police officer confirmed.
A 39-year-old man was Tasered by officers outside the Liquor Mart next door and later charged with assault by suffocation, suffocation or strangulation, he said.
Just days after the crime occurred, customers waiting to get coffee at the store between River Avenue and Osborne Street were met with a sign explaining that the branch was temporarily closed.
It said: ‘We would like to thank you for being part of our store community; You are the heart of who we are at Starbucks.
“We are very grateful to have been part of your daily routine and that you have shared these moments of your life with us.”
But, after there was no news on a reopening date, it was revealed last week that the branch will actually close permanently.
According Winnipeg Free Pressbaristas were trained to tell customers, “It’s just so we can protect the (employee) and customer experience.”
But, after there was no news on a reopening date, it was revealed last week that the branch will actually close permanently.
The closure follows a series of disturbing violent crimes that took place in the River-Osborne area where the store is located, and a strangulation incident was the last straw.
Winnipeg Police Service chief Dani McKinnon told CBC that a customer was waiting in line outside the Liquor Mart, next to Starbucks, around 7 p.m. on May 1 when they were randomly attacked.
The company’s communications director, Leanna Rizzi, told the outlet that the decision to temporarily close came after “careful consideration.”
A note that appeared on the store’s front door last week read: ‘As of May 31, your Osborne Starbucks location at 481 River Ave. has permanently closed.
‘We would like to thank you for being part of our store community. You are the heart of who we are at Starbucks. It has been a great pleasure to connect with you every day.
“We are very grateful to have been part of your daily routine and that you have shared these moments of your life with us.”
Just a month before the assault, police say a woman was stabbed at a bus stop near the intersection of River and Osborne, as well as another serious assault incident, reports. CTV Winnipeg News.
The outlet added that in February, another man was stabbed at the Osborne transit station, and in November 2023 there was a triple stabbing at Shoppers Drug Mart.
Zohreh Gervais, executive director of Osborne Village BIZ, a nonprofit community member business organization, said “the level of violent incidents” that are occurring are “true system failures.”
In October 2023, seven stores in downtown San Francisco were announced to close.
Those previously working at the Osborne Village Starbucks were reportedly offered the opportunity to move to another nearby location.
And this isn’t the first Starbucks store to be forced to close due to rampant crime.
In October 2023, it was announced that seven stores in downtown San Francisco would close as the city continued to deal with crime, drug use, and a homeless epidemic.
And in July 2022, the coffee giant closed more than a dozen stores due to reports of widespread drug use and riots by brazen public at popular cafes.
Reported disruptions include drug use by paying customers and, in most cases, members of the public, who often take advantage of the company’s open bathroom policy, which allows non-paying customers to use its facilities.
As a result, the baths had largely become dens of debauchery, regularly used by vagrants and homeless people to take drugs and engage in other illicit behavior.
Reports of assaults were also common in cities that will experience closures, which include the company’s hometown of Seattle, as well as five other municipalities.
Those stores were in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland and Washington, DC.
