Starbucks, the nation’s largest coffee chain, is now offering its drinks to go only and won’t let customers sit inside or outside its stores due to the coronavirus. The move affects all stores in the U.S. and Canada.
Starbucks has several hundred locations in the NYC area and about 15,000 in the U.S.
Starbucks shared the changes in a letter to employees that the company is implementing to encourage social distancing, in an effort to help contain the COVID-19 virus.
“As we all know, the situation with COVID-19 is extremely dynamic and we will continue to review the facts and science and make the proactive decisions necessary to protect our partners, customers and communities,” wrote Rossann Williams in a letter to Starbucks employees. She is the executive vice president and president of U.S. company-operated business and Canada.
Here are the changes that Starbucks is making:
- Pausing the use of all seating, including both the café and patio areas
- Customers can still walk up and order at the counter, through the “order ahead” feature in the Starbucks app, via the drive thru and use delivery
- A modified condiment bar in all stores
- Depending on the location, you may see modified “order ahead” handoff areas
- Temporary closures for company-owned stores in high-social gathering locations, such as malls and university campuses
- Temporary store closures or reduced operating hours in communities with high clusters of COVID – 19 cases
