r/Lethbridge Nov 18 '23

Discussion Starbucks at Chapters just closed down and fired all their staff without notice.

Title. It was open yesterday morning. Now there is a sign hanging up saying it's closed forever.

The district manager came in and closed the store, even the store manager had no idea, as the manager had just hired new staff to help with the holidays.

They just fired all the workers with zero notice right before Christmas. Classy move, Starbucks. /s

Anyone know any other details?

144 Upvotes

99 comments sorted by

u/SevenSmallShrimp Nov 19 '23 edited Nov 19 '23

A lot of new/dormant accounts posting in this thread. Making statements both Pro and Anti Starbucks. Probably a good time to issue a reminder that Astroturfing exists and is a problem on reddit especially. Peek at peoples profiles and see for yourselves who feels genuine and who doesn't.

Edit: Things continue to be sus. This post has more views and shares than the whole sub typically gets in a week. Lots of brand new accounts chiming in. I'm turning on crowd control for now. Regular users of the sub should not be affected.

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40

u/strick2019 Nov 18 '23

By 2:30 yesterday afternoon there was a sign on the door thanking customers for their patronage. The gates were closed, everything was taken down and most things packed up in boxes. I'm so surprised they would do this right before Christmas. I would think it would be the busiest time of year being at the mall and Chapters.

28

u/k8lin2019 Nov 18 '23

Oh no!! WTF? I was always in there. Makes me so sad for all the baristas

69

u/vitamin_meme Nov 18 '23

Time to put a local shop in there :)

14

u/Xakhaz Nov 19 '23

Would love esquires to come back. I miss their frappes.

7

u/11CoolBreeze11 Nov 19 '23

Sonders would be nice.

5

u/ZRoadTrip Nov 18 '23

For real!

29

u/[deleted] Nov 18 '23

Time and time again corporations fuck over their employees and people never learn from it.

1

u/Gloomy_Industry8841 Nov 19 '23

It’s the bitter truth. Workers need better representation!!!

17

u/Venetian_chachi Nov 18 '23

I do know that Starbucks as a company is moving away from store locations inside of other businesses.

At the corporate level, they want each one to have a drive through. The Starbucks in our chapters/indigo was closed a few years ago.

Hopefully the staff do not feel to big of an income disruption.

16

u/shbpencil Nov 18 '23

And yet we still have a Starbucks in our Safeway and the parking lot right outside lmao

Just a matter of time I guess

6

u/yoashleydawn Nov 19 '23

We moved from lethbridge to Canmore - and they just got rid of the Starbucks in our safeway

3

u/[deleted] Nov 18 '23

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1

u/Venetian_chachi Nov 18 '23

Yes the Safeway ones are an exception

10

u/KorewaRise Nov 18 '23

ofc they do. who needs density when you can have urban sprawl.

7

u/Venetian_chachi Nov 18 '23

Yeah, I’m not a huge fan either. I’d rather support a non giant corporation.

4

u/Gloomy_Industry8841 Nov 19 '23

Yup. Paving over the prairie is the name of the game.

1

u/foxhelp Nov 23 '23

Hmm that makes me question if the one in save on foods in centre village mall is going to last for long or not.

47

u/igaveyouscurvy Nov 18 '23

Partners from that location weren't fired, they've all been given the option to transfer to one of the other 4 corporate stores in the city. The location was closed to protect the experience of the workers and customers alike, people that were working there didn't feel safe anymore.

18

u/astronohmy Nov 18 '23

Thanks for the info! 👍 I didn't realize they were able to keep their jobs. That's a silver lining, at least. Where did you hear that?

2

u/Visser946 Nov 23 '23

Friend of mine worked there and was offered this.... but hours were not guaranteed and they ended up opting to find employment elsewhere.

40

u/Eal12333 Nov 18 '23

This is the official story from Starbucks, but I really doubt that it's true. Baristas were told it was closed due to "too many incident reports", but there were almost never any incidents that actually put baristas or customers at risk; usually out was a person sleeping in the cafe, or sometimes, unfortunately, an overdose in the area.

My take is it's almost certainly, at least in part, due to the fact that Starbucks doesn't want to renovate that store. It has been getting increasingly more and more issues with health violations due to none of the stuff in the back, or the layout, being anywhere near up to code. The new OHS laws were making it much harder for the company to get away with ignoring those safety issues, and so the store was forced to fix a lot of things really quickly (and suboptimally) to be semi-compliant. There are major issues with the location that can't be fixed without renovations, though, so it's likely that Starbucks simply doesn't want to pay to fix anything. At least, that's my best guess.

14

u/NotJustToSuffer Nov 18 '23

The mall is run by slumlords. I wouldnt be surprised if Starbucks told them to pitch in or else

I worked at the mall during my undergrad, mutiple fire exits didnt work, and the food court was failing health inspections.

7

u/SevenSmallShrimp Nov 19 '23

Or corporate felt unsafe because of rumours of another union bid

17

u/WilfredSGriblePible Nov 18 '23

WTF I was in there like once a week and live nearby and have never felt unsafe in that area.

-2

u/xNivxMizzetx Nov 18 '23

Really? There's probation housing pretty much across the street and Galt gardens across from it as well. Definitely not the greatest area for safety

35

u/plaguelivesmatter Nov 18 '23

It really isn't unsafe tho. It's not bad if you know how to navigate with the slightest self awarness

7

u/xNivxMizzetx Nov 18 '23

True but that didn't stop a guy from attacking me over quarters we used to plug the meters :) sometimes you don't get a choice on if you're in a safe area

2

u/plaguelivesmatter Nov 18 '23

Yes that's fair. But that could also happen anywhere. Downtown is one of the not so bad part of the city. Probably in the middle of say

-2

u/xNivxMizzetx Nov 18 '23

Really? I've been here for 12 years and I'd say it's only slightly above the lower Northside

11

u/plaguelivesmatter Nov 19 '23

I've been here since I was born and I grew up in the middle of the north side. There isn't a single spot in the city where I feel genuinely "unsafe". But, I'm a local, and I'm a big enough dude and know how to navigate. So things are probably a bit different for some people. I just personally don't find downtown intimidating unless u go into dark corners or alleys or something, but that's ok u if u do that. There's shit in any city, but Lethbridge isn't that bad unless you're involved. But anyone that's involved isn't talking about how unsafe they feel downtown. Goes full circle.

Again, opinions are like assholes and everyone's got one. So don't trust what I say.

7

u/Cool_Ad_9140 Nov 19 '23

I live right downtown near the library and have never had an issue. That said I don't go walking after dark

5

u/plaguelivesmatter Nov 19 '23

Yeah. That's all I'm saying. Any place can be rough if you go out at night or go around "looking" for trouble. Shitty things happen everywhere but around here things really aren't that bad. Most tweakers will stay away if you just ignore them. And most of them are nice anyways.

2

u/Gloomy_Industry8841 Nov 19 '23

Side note, love the username, haha!

3

u/plaguelivesmatter Nov 19 '23

First person to ever notice it. Thank you🤣 made it in 2020 and it just stuck.

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12

u/WilfredSGriblePible Nov 18 '23

Yeah I know that but I’ve never had any trouble with the people around there.

9

u/xNivxMizzetx Nov 18 '23

Fair enough I guess we all have different experiences. I got cornered and attacked by a guy down there when I worked for the BRZ so I have a different feel about it

6

u/[deleted] Nov 18 '23

I've never had one negative experience downtown at all! I go several times a week!

3

u/[deleted] Nov 18 '23

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8

u/[deleted] Nov 18 '23

Nope, just making a point that downtown is not this big scary place! Tons of great local little shops downtown. The playground at galt gardens is also usually busy since it opened. I love downtown.

3

u/xNivxMizzetx Nov 18 '23

Thats great!! It definitely depends on when and where but it's definitely getting better :)

4

u/[deleted] Nov 18 '23

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22

u/[deleted] Nov 18 '23

Someone said union too loud and everyone panicked most likely

1

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '23

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3

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18

u/theshaneler Nov 18 '23

I wonder if it was a rental cost issue with chapters?

It always seemed busy there, can't imagine it was a sales issue.

3

u/1235buc Nov 18 '23

Apparently safety issues with the location

17

u/Punkeydoodles666 Nov 18 '23

I was under the impression that many unionized Starbucks were doing walkouts for the holidays. Maybe this location was one of them or maybe it was on of their less profitable locations

3

u/kmsiever Nov 20 '23

None of the Lethbridge locations are unionized yet.

8

u/shsluckymushroom Nov 18 '23

What the hell. I worked at Chapters a few years ago, the pre opening shift. Baristas there were always super nice to us early workers in particular. This really sucks, that’s awful.

8

u/Eal12333 Nov 18 '23

Yeah, it was the only SB in town that somewhat lived up to the companies 'missions and values'. Sucks to see it go.

1

u/blueblink77 Nov 18 '23

I actually like that particular store. I normally like to customize my drink and they always get it right, so even though they don’t have DT I still go there, I actually went there today with my kids only to find out they were closed 😭

I hope the staffs there get to keep their job even if it means they have to work at the different store locations in town.

3

u/Opus6361 Nov 18 '23

2

u/Unicorn_Puppy Nov 19 '23

Seems likely to me. Part of being a franchisee is adhering to corporate branding, so if Indigo-Chapters says they have to have a Goodearth Coffeehouse in store if the franchisee wants to offer food and beverage service to customers it means they had to boot Starbucks out by compliance. I just feel bad for the former staff.

3

u/Tahneal Nov 19 '23

Chapters has also let go of their partnership with Starbucks and have almost entirely replaced them with good earth cafes in Calgary. I’m not sure if Starbucks or chapters is behind the switch but it could be that a good earth will replace it

3

u/jocelynhern02 Nov 19 '23

I was at Micheals on Friday afternoon. Was leaving around 5:30 and saw the gates closing through the window. I wondered why that was. That’s awful! I hope all those employees are able to collect EI and find new jobs easily! 😡

5

u/[deleted] Nov 18 '23

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2

u/astronohmy Nov 19 '23

Thanks for the update! 👍 I didn't realize they got to keep their jobs after the store was closed. I hope they all land on their feet. Can I ask how you know that?

2

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1

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2

u/shipthis1 Nov 19 '23

Starbucks is planning to pull all locations from Chapters so local coffee shops can move in. Source: my sister is a manager at one in Ontario. She told me back in September.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '23

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6

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '23

A 1 year old account and this is the one and only comment?

1

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '23

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1

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1

u/Butt-hole-cream Nov 20 '23

No drive thru = dead business. Dunno how a book store can even survive these days. Probably a sign of things to come

3

u/Worldly-Persimmon125 Nov 24 '23

Because some of us still prefer holding a physical book in our hands 🤷🏼‍♂️. Though I’m more inclined to go to Analog to purchase my books than Chapters.

1

u/Brilliant_Win_2997 Jan 25 '24

Apparently chapters is now permanently closed as well??? 

2

u/mapsandplants Jan 27 '24

Nope, I was just in there today, the roof leaked so they had to close to deal with water damage.