Starbucks abruptly shutters another store after violent assault outside neighboring business amid rising crime

Another Starbucks store has abruptly closed its doors after the area it serves saw a shocking increase in crime.

A branch of the coffee chain in Winnipeg, Canada, posted a sign on May 31 saying it is permanently closed.

It came after a separate note was initially placed on the door explaining that the store had temporarily closed without warning from May 5.

The abrupt closure is aimed at ‘protecting the customer experience’ following a worrying number of violent crimes taking place in the River-Osborne area where the store is located, with a strangling incident being the last straw.

It is the latest of dozens of stores Starbucks has closed in recent years over fears for the safety of customers and staff in crime-ridden areas including San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles.

According to Winnipeg Police Service data, the River-Osborne area saw a 44.6% increase in overall crime between 2022 and 2023.

Dani McKinnon, Winnipeg Police Service Cost, cites an incident that occurred the day before the store closed told CBC that on May 1 around 7 p.m., a customer was waiting in line outside the Liquor Mart, next to the Starbucks, when they were randomly attacked.

Staff quickly intervened in the attack and the victim was doing well, the police officer confirmed.

A 39-year-old man was tasered by officers outside the adjacent Liquor Mart and later charged with assault by suffocation, suffocation or strangulation, she said.

Just a few days after the crime occurred, customers hoping to get coffee at the store between River Avenue and Osborne Street were met with a sign saying the branch was temporarily closed.

It read: ‘We want to thank you for being part of our shopping community; you are the heart of who we are at Starbucks.

“We are very grateful that we played a role in your daily routine and that you shared these moments in your life with us.”

But after no news of a reopening date, it was revealed last week that the branch is in fact closing permanently.

According to Winnipeg Free Pressbaristas were trained to tell customers, “It’s just so we can protect the (employee) and customer experience.”

But after no news of a reopening date, it was revealed last week that the branch is in fact closing permanently

The closure follows a number of disturbing violent crimes taking place in the River-Osborne area where the store is located, with a strangling incident being the final straw.

Winnipeg Police Service Cost, Dani McKinnon told CBC that a customer was waiting in line outside the Liquor Mart, next to the Starbucks, on May 1 around 7 p.m. when they were randomly attacked

The company’s communications manager, 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 Starbucks Osborne location at 481 River Ave. permanently closed.

“We want to thank you for being part of our shopping community. You are the heart of who we are at Starbucks. It was a great pleasure to get in touch with you every day.

“We are very grateful that we played a role in your daily routine and that you shared these moments in your life with us.”

Just a month before the attack, police say a woman was stabbed at a bus stop near the River and Osborne intersection, as well as another serious assault incident, reports CTV News Winnipeg.

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 the Shoppers Drug Mart.

Zohreh Gervais, executive director of the Osborne Village BIZ, a nonprofit business membership organization in the community, said “the number of violent incidents” occurring are “really systemic failures.”

In October 2023, it was announced that seven stores in downtown San Francisco were closing

Those who previously worked at the Osborne Village Starbucks have reportedly been given the option to transfer 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 were closing as the city continued to experience crime, drug use and a homelessness epidemic.

And in July 2022, the coffee giant closed more than a dozen stores amid reports of widespread drug use and disturbances by brazen citizens at its popular cafes.

Reported disruptions include drug use by paying customers and, more often than not, members of the public – who often abuse the company’s open bathroom policy, which allows non-paying customers to use their facilities.

As a result, the toilets had largely turned into dens of debauchery, regularly used by vagrants and homeless people to do drugs and engage in other illegal behavior.

Reports of attacks were also common in the cities slated for closure, including the company’s hometown of Seattle and five other municipalities.

Those stores were in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland and Washington, DC.