Starbucks Principles For Upholding the Third Place: For Our Partners, Our Customers and Our Communities

Since our founding in 1971, Starbucks has set out to be a different kind of company, one that puts people first: our partners, our customers and our communities. Our Mission and Values come to life in the promotion of equitable, diverse and inclusive cultures: in our workplace, our communities, and in our stores, a “third place” where everyone is welcome and we can gather, as a community, to share great coffee and deepen human connection.

Starbucks commitment to live Our Mission and Values is reflected in the following principles:

• Everyone should feel welcomed at Starbucks. Every person who visits a Starbucks store is a customer, whether they make a purchase or not. Our customers are welcome to use the spaces we provide appropriately, including our cafés, patios and restrooms.
• The existence of a welcoming public space is a shared responsibility. We expect everyone who uses the third place to promote a sense of community and treat each other with respect and dignity. Behaviors that make others feel unwelcome or unsafe undermine the sense of community that Starbucks tries to promote, and they have no place in our stores. When this happens, we trust our partners to make the best decision about how to address them, guided by our existing Addressing Disruptive Behaviors procedure and Third Place trainings. When customers visit one of our stores, we respectfully request that they commit to:
  • Use our spaces as intended
  • Be considerate of our partners and other customers
  • Communicate with respect
  • Act responsibly
• Discrimination is inconsistent with Our Mission and Values. We strive to eliminate discrimination and implicit bias from every aspect of our business, including the experiences of our partners and customers at Starbucks. We do not tolerate discrimination on any basis prohibited by local, state or federal law. We oppose any public policy that would have a discriminatory impact. If you experience or see conduct that you believe is discriminatory, harassing or inconsistent with this commitment, please contact our Customer Service team at (800) 782-7282 or https://customerservice.starbucks.com.

Creating a truly welcoming space, where people can come together with understanding, respect and compassion, and where diverse backgrounds and life experiences are embraced, is fundamental to our role and responsibility as a company. These principles will continue to guide Starbucks and we will hold ourselves accountable to them. Together, we can create and maintain a welcoming third place, where every individual is treated with humanity, dignity and respect.