LA Starbucks Stores, Closed Amid Safety Concerns, Could Be Forced To Reopen

LOS ANGELES, CA — Starbucks could be forced to reopen six Los Angeles County locations that it closed last summer in response to a complaint filed this week by federal labor officials alleging the stores were shuttered in an effort to suppress unionization efforts — not due to safety concerns, as the company had claimed.

The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday filed a complaint against Starbucks, questioning the closure of 23 U.S. locations. It noted that six of those stores had already voted to unionize with Starbucks Workers United.

While the NLRB has called on Starbucks to reopen the stores, the matter is expected to be decided in court next year, the New York Times reported.

The Starbucks workers' union considers the NLRB complaint "the latest confirmation of Starbucks' determination to illegally oppose workers' organizing,"it said in a statement.

Workers at more than 350 corporate-run Starbucks locations have voted to unionize as part of a nationwide movement that began in 2021 in Buffalo, New York. Starbucks has over 9,000 corporate-owned locations.

A Starbucks representative told the New York Times that company last year opened hundreds of new stores and closed more than 100, about 3 percent of which were unionized.

The shuttering of the LA-area Starbucks last year were part of a batch of closings that the company said at the time were due to safety concerns. The decision to close stores were based on the number of crime complaints, the company said.

The LA County Starbucks locations referenced in the NLRB complaint are:

• Santa Monica Boulevard and Westmount Drive in West Hollywood
• Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue in Hollywood
• Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood
• 1st and Los Angeles streets in downtown Los Angeles
• 2nd and San Pedro streets in downtown Los Angeles
• Ocean Front Walk and Moss Avenue in Santa Monica

City News Service contributed to this report.