I loved working in Pike Place and when a tourist would ignore the fresh fruit I was selling, potentially the best that they would ever have in their life, and instead ask “WhErE iS the FiRsT sTaRbUcKs?!”. I would gleefully explain how the first Starbucks burnt down and send them on their way.
Solidarity to the workers though. They deserve way more for the idiots they deal with constantly.
So I’ve been thinking about this more, instead of a single store, what if they were to try to form a union of all Starbucks employees in the Seattle area? It’d be much harder for Starbucks to pull a “close the store and open a new one” play if it was for every Starbucks in an area.
While you have a good point, it might be kinda hard for Starbucks to shut down their first ever store, as it’s a sort of historic landmark for them.
True, but I wouldn’t put it past them.
another good point
I’ve worked on unionizing businesses with multiple locations and the big issue is communication. Locations rarely have overlapping staff below the management level and chatting with coworkers, having rapport with them is key to building faith in any sort of collective action.
That said, Starbucks Workers United (mentioned in the article briefly) may be able to pull something off with a more regional scope, but AFAIK they focus on shops that are already working on unionizing rather than cold calling locations.