85% of US Starbucks stores will be open by end of the week.
With “responsible” tactics that focus on take-out, Starbucks announced it expects to open 85% of its U.S. stores by the end of this week. The company is making major changes to allow customers to return to for their favorite cup of coffee.
On March 20, Starbucks announced all workers would be paid whether or not they came to work, with those who did go to work receiving $3 extra per hour. Starting the second week of May, Starbucks employees will be required to attend work to be paid. Starbucks plans to phase out the “catastrophe pay” and $3 pay bump in June.
“As we reopen in the US, I think we anticipate that the stores are going to reopen across the nation at a faster rate” than in China, CEO Kevin Johnson said during a call with investors last Tuesday, per Business Insider. “But the format we’re going to use … in each store is going to be dependent on sort of what’s happening in that particular store.”
These are some key facts of what the new normal looks like for the coffee giant, according to Forbes:
- The stores will take orders via app and pickup, drive-thru and Uber Eats with dine-in service suspended indefinitely.
- Starbucks shut down all U.S. stores without drive-thrus—about 6,000—on March 20, offering pay to its nationwide workforce of about 181,000 for 30 days regardless of whether they worked or not, with cash bonuses for those who took shifts.
- 15,000 of US Starbucks are already operating as drive-through only, and 60% of the chain’s locations have a drive-through option available.
- Starbucks expects 90% of its stores to reopen by mid-June, says CNN.
- Starbucks’ gradual reopening comes as many states around the country have taken steps to reopen their economies, with many allowing restaurants to operate with reduced capacity, take-out or curbside pick-up only, or with food delivery services.
