No purchase? No Chit-Chat

Starbucks’ new policy that individuals must make a purchase in order to stay or use the bathrooms is now just under a month old and already has mixed reviews.

As a high schooler, many students enjoy studying or working on homework with a nice coffee to sip on and a warm cozy environment to work in. But do people always have money to spend 10 dollars on a coffee to enjoy the Starbucks environment?

Overwhelmingly, students have reported encountering people studying or hanging out at Starbucks without purchasing products. For senior Noah Hamilton, this can lead to frustration.

“Sometimes I want to buy my twelve dollar drink and 6 dollar bagel, but they’re always in my seat with no drink, doing their work,” he said.

Junior Arelly Gutierrez also applauds the coffee chain’s new policy.

“I like studying at Starbucks because I like the vibes and it’s relaxing. I also enjoy going with friends, too,” she said. Gutierrez thinks this new change will affect her working in a positive way, since there will most likely be fewer people around, so she can fully focus.

A local Starbucks employee (who wished to remain anonymous), shared her perspective on this new policy.

She mentioned that there are a few repeat people who often come in to get water, which is in fact free, then just sit around for a while without ever ordering anything. For this employee, the new policy will help with clarity. Now when a Starbucks employee needs to confront someone about loitering in the cafe, the person being asked to leave cannot claim they’re being targeted since this is part of the new detailed policy.

Though it has been in the news, the new policy hasn’t seemed to make much difference yet at our local location.

“We haven’t seen a change in business yet since it’s so new and most customers don’t even know about it yet,” stated the employee. While she supports this change, she is wary that it could cause some issues in the future. If the new policy is not posted somewhere or customers are unaware, this could lead to a combative situation.

Despite this, she remains hopeful.

This policy is the first, but definitely not the last change Starbucks will be making, as they posted that they will be releasing a few more rules in the next few months.

Stay tuned to see what’s next!