Another Iconic Seattle Starbucks Closes Over Safety Concerns

Starbucks at Broadway and Denny (Google street view)

You may recall in July, Starbucks announced they were closing five stores in Seattle and one in Everett over safety concerns. Now another one is closing. This image is of the Broadway and Denny store.

Iconic store near Capitol Hill District will close soon

MyNorthwest.com is reporting another Starbucks is going to shutter its doors over safety concerns and crime.

According to sources, the company says concerns over safety are prompting the location to close for good on December 9th. It's an iconic store located at Broadway and Denny in Seattle.

However, Starbucks Union officials claim it's because store workers attempted to unionize, and the company is retaliating. According to MyNorthwest.com:

"This is the most clear-cut case of retaliation this company has shown closing a union store yet. This is an outrage. Starbucks & Howard Schultz are playing petty games with worker’s lives. They lack respect not only for the rights of their workers, but for the law of this country"---from Starbucks Workers United Twitter Feed."

Rachel Ybarra, a Broadway store worker, and union member, told MyNorthwest they have been begging for a security guard and social worker-counselor (to help defuse unruly patrons) for a long time, but have not gotten an adequate response from the company.

Starbucks released a statement to KIRO Radio that read in part:

"...Unfortunately, despite several mitigating efforts, safety and security incidents at our Broadway and Denny store have continued to escalate. As a result, we will be closing our Broadway and Denny store to customers on December 9, 2022."

Starbucks says it will work with those location employees to help them transfer to other stores if they wish.