The Wall Street Journal is reporting Starbucks will close over a dozen locations across the U.S. with six being located in Los Angeles County.
“After careful consideration, we are closing some stores in locations that have experienced a high volume of challenging incidents that make it unsafe to continue to operate, to open new locations with safer conditions,” a Starbucks spokesperson told Business Insider. The incidents reportedly involve drug use in stores by customers and other members of the public reported by workers.
The LA-area locations closing are:
- Santa Monica & Westmount, West Hollywood
- Hollywood & Western, Los Angeles
- 1st & Los Angeles (Doubletree), Los Angeles
- Hollywood & Vine, Hollywood
- Ocean Front Walk & Moss, Santa Monica
- 2nd & San Pedro, Los Angeles
The West Hollywood closure was announced shortly after the council voted to defund its police contract by reducing the number of Sheriff deputies they were paying for. Despite the uptick in crime the council moved forward.
“I’m not going to vote for the budget if we cut the sheriff’s (funds),” said Mayor Lauren Meister. “First of all, nobody has the gun problem that we have in this country. You can’t expect us to have a public safety team where most of the people aren’t armed in order to defend our citizens.”
“Along with the West Hollywood Community,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement, “we are disappointed that as part of the approved city budget, four deputies will be cut in the upcoming months. We would like to thank all the residents who were opposed to this vote and responded in its opposition. It appears outside activists had more weight than the residents of West Hollywood.”
Related: The Ivanka of the L.A. Times? Renegade Publisher’s Daughter Nika Soon-Shiong Is Captivating the City
The daughter of the owner of the LA Times sits on the West Hollywood Public Safety Commission which made the recommendation to defund.
Related: WeHo Council Member Lindsey Horvath Removes West Hollywood and LGBTQ from Her Bio
Nika Soon-Shiong is perceived as wanting to use the money diverted from the Sheriff to be used in her nonprofit which gives away money to poor residents with no strings attached. Soon-Shiong is also supporting WeHo councilwoman Lindsey Horvath’s bid to succeed Sheila Kuehl on the Board of Supervisors.
It is believed Horvath will continue in the same trajectory as Kuehl who has dodged federal scrutiny over a no-bid contract awarded to her friend from Metro.
Businesses are taking crime so seriously they are closing stores which leads to both job losses and reduction of the City’s sales tax revenue which are needed to provide basic city services.
How will these closures affect you?
