A Change in Starbucks’ Feel-Good Policy?
Starbucks was originally marketed as a home away from home, or a place where customers could buy a cup of coffee (or frappuccino; no one is judging) and do something artsy, like read or stare intently out of the window. Increasingly, whenever I enter a Starbucks I see droves of people in their twenties typing furiously on their lap tops or diving into a good book. It always seemed to be Starbucks’ policy to create a mellow, enriched environment for such endeavors, a policy which has been celebrated among all of my coffee drinking companions and reflective in Starbucks’ incredible sales. Moreover, most Starbucks shops have oversized armchairs and others even have a large fireplace. Regardless of the exact interior design, the message always appeared that Starbucks wanted you to stay a while. Therefore, it shocked many that the Starbucks in New York recently announced plans on changing bathroom access policy by restricting restroom use not only to paying customers, but employees only.
The Problem at Starbucks
Apparently, Starbucks’ present bathroom policy has been creating issues for a while, and though it is in fact Starbucks’ policy to cater to the customer, large scale changes are scheduled to be made in New York. The company has been facing not only messes in the bathroom, but restrooms are reported to be repaired more than once a week in the Big Apple, which is costing the company a considerable amount of money. However, the most compelling issue Starbucks employees are facing is the actual wait for the bathroom. In coffee shops with less accessible toilets, employees are being forced to wait in line for more time than is generally allowed on a bathroom break, and cutting in line tends to offend customers who are also waiting to use the bathroom. It seems comfort may need to take a back seat and practicality may need to be the first policy honored at Starbucks, at least until customers learn they need to stop making messes and that baristas really do need to hurry on their bathroom breaks, lest the coffees learn to make themselves.
A Possible Issues Pertaining to the Nature of Coffee
The inherent issue with this new bathroom policy, aside from annoying customers and potentially motivating clients to use a different coffee shop, is that Starbucks does in fact sell coffee. It seems almost asinine for a shop specializing in a substance containing laxative and diuretic properties to forbid paying customers from using the bathroom should they so need. Are customers supposed to dash out and find a restroom elsewhere? This seems to hint at a mass epidemic of seats being unintentionally taken by strangers. Starbucks’ policy is supposed to be about creating a friendly and comforting atmosphere, not introducing a plague of awkwardness. Furthermore, it seems only natural that the Starbucks which do not enact this bathroom policy change may attract more customers, concentrating the issue until the policy is reneged or it is instituted in every New York shop.
How Serious Is This Threat of Bathroom Policy Change?
In New York, a Starbucks shop has already changed bathroom policy to restrict bathroom use to employees only. Though, as food establishments exceeding nineteen chairs are required by law to have accessible bathrooms for at least paying customers, it seems the smaller Starbucks shops may enact the policy, whereas larger Starbucks shops may stick to traditional bathroom policy. Starbucks come in all shapes and sizes, and it seems implausible that one containing multiple bathroom stalls for either gender will change policy completely. However, if Starbucks does uniformly change bathroom policy, they risk being lumped into the collection of other corporations that illustrate apathy to the needs of the general public.
WORKS CITED
Kosman, Josh “Just a ‘wee’ change”. New York Post. 16 November 2011. Web. 16 November 2011. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/just_wee_change_F1tYs3o0FYHDm42TADBSBM#ixzz1dszh59Ao.